tihvavy  of  tire  t:heolo0icd  ^tminary 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

Rufus  H.    LeFevre 
5,NZ7 


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FFR  11    1953. 


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Addresses  and  Papers  Given  at  the 
National  Congress  of  United  Brethren  Men, 
Held  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  May  5-7,  1914. 


^*?xi 


The  Otterbein  Press 

Dayton,  Ohio 

1914. 


Copyright,  1914.  by 

The  United  Brethren  Publishint  House, 

Dayton,  Ohio. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


The  National  Congress  of  United  Brethren  Men,  held  in  Day- 
ton, Ohio,  May  5-7,  1914,  in  its  purpose,  program,  personnel,  spirit, 
and  statement  of  policy  was  a  meeting  of  commanding  importance 
in  the  life  and  work  of  the  United  Brethren  Church  as  it  faces  the 
second  century  since  the  death  of  Philip  William  Otterbein.  We 
are  yet  too  near  the  Congress  to  give  a  proper  estimate  of  its  sig- 
nificance. 


ITS    ORIGIN 


The  General  Conference  of  1913  put  before  our  denomination 
great  tasks  to  be  accomplished,  and  elected  a  Commission  on  Fi- 
nance to  conduct  a  comprehensive,  educational  campaign  to  give 
the  victories  and  needs  of  our  united,  benevolent  work  and  to  intro- 
duce a  weekly  system  of  giving  to  meet  these  needs. 

The  new  Commission  on  Finance  held  its  first  session  July  1-3, 
1913,  when  a  resolution  was  offered  that  we  plan  to  hold  a  nation- 
wide' congress  of  the  representative  laymen  and  ministers,  to  set 
forth  in  a  compelling  manner  our  great,  united  work  in  the  exten- 
sion of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  executive  committee  of  the  Fi- 
nance Commission  was  instructed  to  consider  and  report  on  such 
a  congress.  This  committee  decided  to  recommend  the  matter  to 
the  Bishops'  Cabinet,  which  convened  in  Baltimore,  in  November, 
1913.  In  the  meantime  the  proposition  was  approved  by  the  confer- 
ence of  superintendents  of  the  Northwest  District  at  a  meeting  in 
Chicago.  The  Bishops'  Cabinet  considered  thoroughly  the  propo- 
sition\nd  voted  to  hold  the  congress  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  annual  board  meetings. 


THE    PURPOSE 

The  general  committee  elected  by  the  Bishops'  Cabinet  in  its 
call  for  the  Congress,  announced  the  purpose  to  be  as  follows : 

1.  That  our  denomination  may  discover  its  resources  in  Jesus 
Christ,  and  God's  will  for  us  in  the  extension  of  his  kingdom. 

2.  That  we  may  recount  and  be  grateful  for  the  victories  of 
the  past. 

3.  That  the  tasks  and  opportunities  now  before  our  Church 
may  be  set  forth  in  a  comprehensive,  constructive,  and  convincing 
manner. 

4.  That  we  may  discover  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
members  in  our  communion  now  not  active,  and  the  means  by  which 
they  may  be  enlisted  in  the  work  of  Christ. 

5.  That  strong  agencies  may  be  provided  for  the  instruction 
and  training  of  efficient  leadership,  both  in  our  local  churches  and 
the  general  church  work,  that  our  entire  membership  may  reach  its 
maximum  power  in  the  work  of  the  kingdom. 

6.  That  a  workable,  inspiring,  denominational  program  and 
policy  may  be  adopted  as  we  enter  the  second  century  since  the 
death  of  Philip  William  Otterbein. 

The  response  to  the  call  for  the  Congress  was  beyond  all  ex- 
pectations. Nearly  seven  hundred  business  men,  lawyers,  doctors, 
mechanics,  farmers,  pastors,  conference  superintendents,  and  Bish- 
ops were  present  from  forty  annual  conferences  in  America  and 
from  four  foreign  fields.  These  delegates  as  a  rule  came  at  their 
own  expense,  and  were  dominated  by  a  strong  purpose  to  get  the 
full  message  of  the  Congress  and  to  carry  out  speedily  its  policy 
and  program.  From  the  opening  of  the  first  session  until  the  close 
of  the  last  one,  the  delegates  entered  into  the  work  with  such 
promptness,  co-operation,  and  constant  intercession  as  were  never 
before  witnessed  in  any  assembly  in  our  denomination. 

With  open  hearts  and  minds  the  delegates  faced  their  risen 
Lord,  the  unmatched  opportunities  of  this  hour,  and  the  distinct 
responsibility  of  our  communion  in  extending  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord.  Scores  of  men  testified  that  their  lives  had  been  completely 
transformed.  The  delegates  returned  to  their  homes  changed  men, 
to  begin  the  real  task  of  carrying  forward  our  ur.ited  work  to 
victory. 


The  Congress  voted  to  put  into  book  form  the  messages  de- 
livered, that  the  vision,  scope,  and  power  of  the  Congress  may  be 
given  to  all  our  people.  It  is  earnestly  hoped  that  every  one  who 
reads  the  important  messages  of  this  book  will  give  himself  to 
earnest  prayer  and  a  definite  purpose  to  carry  into  action  the  policy 
and  program  approved. 

''The  end  of  the  Congress  is  but  the  beginning  of  the  enter- 
prise." 

(Signed)    THE  GENERAL   COMMITTEE, 

S.  S.  HoUiGH,  Chairman. 
Chas.  W.  Brewbaker. 
E.  L.  Shuey. 

A.   C.   SiDDALL. 

Jay  M.  Cogan. 

H.  C.  Cridland^  Secretary. 


A  STATEMENT. 

npHE  desirability  of  keeping  within  the 
-■-  limits  of  a  book  the  addresses  and 
papers  of  the  Men's  Congress,  has  made  it 
necessary  to  condense  many  of  them,  and 
the  editorial  committee  has  sought  to  do 
this  in  away  not  to  detract  from  the  unity 
and  effectiveness  of  the  messages,  nor  to 
destroy  the  style  and  manner  of  treatment 
of  each  author.  In  avoiding  the  duplica- 
tion of  matter  there  has  been  omitted  from 
some  addresses  that  which  appeared  in 
another. — Editorial  Committee 


CONTENTS. 

INTRODUCTORY    STATEMENT 
Committee   on   National   Congress   of   United   Brethren   Men iii 

THE    CHURCH'S    RESOURCES,    STEWARDSHIP,    AND    ACHIEVEMENTS 

CHRIST    OUR    IvORD— Charles    Gallaudet    Trumbull,    Editor    The    Sunday    School 

Times,    Philadelphia,    Pennsylvania    1 

ENTERING  INTO  THE   LIFE   THAT   IS  CHRIST— Charles   Gallaudet  Trumbull       8 

MAN  A  STEWARD  AND  CO-WORKER  WITH  GOD— Bishop  H.  H.  Fout,  D.D., 

Northwest     District     15 

STRATEGIC    ACHIEVEMENTS    OF    THE    PAST    CENTURY— Rev.    J.    Balmer 

STiowers,    B.D.,    Professor    Greek   Exegesis,    Bonebrake    Seminary 22 

UNMATCHED  OPPORTUNITY   OF  THIS   HOUR 

THE  CALL  OF  AMERICA— Joseph  Ernest  McAfee,  Associate  Secretary,  Presby- 
terian   Board   of   Home   Missions,   New    York    28 

THE    CHALLENGE    OF   AN   AWAKENED    WORLD— Bishop    Cyrus   J.    Kephart, 

A.M.,    D.D.,    Southwest    District    36 

CO-OPERATIVE  PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  TASK  OF  THE  KINGDOM— 
Rev.  Charles  S.  MacFarland,  D.D.,  Secretary  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches 
of  Christ  in   America,   New   York    43 

OUR  RESPONSIBILITY    FOR  AMERICA  AND  THE   NON-CHRISTIAN    WORLD 

THE   MISSION   OF   THE   CHURCH   TO   THE   HOMELESS— Rev.    R.   J.   White, 

D.D.,    Superintendent    Erie    Conference,    Buffalo,    New    York 50 

THE  LOCAL   CHURCH  CAPTURING  ITS  COMMUNITY  FOR   CHRIST— Rev. 

Charles   W.    Recard,   D.D.,    Canton,    Ohio- 52 

WINNING.  OUR    SHARE    OF    AMERICA— Bishop    William    M.    Weekley,    D.D„ 

East    District,    Parkersburg,    West    Virginia 56 

THE    OPPORTUNITY    AND    CHALLENGE    IN    OUR    FOREIGN    FIELDS— 

Bishop  Alfred  T.   Howard,  A.M.,   D.D.,   Foreign   Missionary   Bishop 64 

UNITED    MOVEMENT    TO    ENLIST    THE    LOCAL    CHURCHES    IN    KINGDOM 

EXTENSION 

EDUCATION    AND    INSPIRATION    NEEDED    IN    THE    LOCAL    CHURCH— 

Rev.   A.   C.    Siddall,   D.D.,   Secretary   Church    Erection    73 

OUR  TOGETHER  MOVEMENT— ENLISTING  ALL  IN  GIVING   FOR  ALI^- 

Rev.   J.    S.   Kendall,   D.D.,   Secretary   Commission   on   Finance 80 

BUSINESS  IN   RELIGION— Mr.    L.   O.   Miller,   General   Church  Treasurer 85 

RESULTS  INADEQUATE  TO  OPPORTUNITIES  AND  RESOURCES— Mr.  Ed- 
win   L.    Shuey,    A.M.,    Dayton,    Ohio 91 

A  MESSAGE  FROM   THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL    CHURCH— Hon.    O.    F. 

Hypes,    Springfield,    Ohio    99 

A  MESSAGE  FROM  THE  METHODIST  PROTESTANT  CHURCH— Rev.  C.  H. 
Hubble,  D.D.,  Secretary  Young  People's  Work,  Methodist  Protestant  Church, 
Adrian,     Michigan     101 

A  MESSAGE  FROM  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST— Rev.  A.  E.  Cory,  Secretary 

Men   and   Millions    Movement,    Disciples    of    Christ 103 

CHRIST  DOMINANT  IN   SOCIETY— IN  THE  CITY  AND   IN  THE   STATE 

THE  CALL  TO  SOCIAL  SERVICE— Rev.  Warren  L.  Bunger,  Greensburg,  Pennsyl- 
vania        109 

TRANSFORMING  A  CITY— Mr.  Frederick  H.  Rike,  A.B.,  President  Greater  Day- 
ton,   Association,    Dayton,    Ohio 116 

THE  CHRISTIAN  IN  THE  STATE— Bishop  G.  M.  Mathews,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Cen- 
tral District   122 

vii 


LEADERSHIP    NECESSARY    TO    ACCOMPLISH    OUR   TASK 

MINISTERIAL  LEADERSHIP  NECESSARY  TO  ACCOMPLISH  OUR  TASK— 

Rev.  Walter  G.   Clippinger,   A.B.,   D.D.,   President  Otterbein  University 131 

LAY  LEADERSHIP  NECESSARY  TO  ACCOMPLISH  OUR  TASK— Rev.  G.  D. 

Batdorf,    Lancaster,    Pennsj'lvania    136 

AGENCIES   NEEDED   TO    CALL   OUT  AND   TRAIN    LEADERS 

THE    COLLEGE    AS    A    FACTOR    NEEDED    TO    CALL    OUT   AND    TRAIN 
LEADERS— Rev.   William  E.   Schell,  A.M.,   D.D.,    General   Secretary  of  Edu- 
cation        143 

HOW  TO  TRAIN  ALL  THE  STUDENTS  IN  OUR  COLLEGES  IN  THE  PRAC- 
TICAL WORK  IN  WHICH  THEY  WILL  BE  EXPECTED  TO  BE 
LEADERS^Rev.  Marion  R.  Drury,  A.M.,  D.D.,  President  Leander  Clark  Col- 
lege        148 

BONEBRAKE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY— A  NECESSARY  AGENCY  FOR 
CALLING  OUT  AND  TRAINING  LEADERS— Rev.  J.  P.  Landis,  D.D.,  Ph.D., 
President    Bonebrake    Seminary    ; 152 

THE  SEMINARY,  OUR  WEST  POINT— Rev.  J.  E.  Fout,  D.D.,  General  Manager 

Bonebrake    Seminary    156 

HOW  TO  SECURE  AN  ADEQUATE  FORCE  OF  MEN  FOR  THE  MINISTRY 
AND  MISSIONARY  WORK— Rev.  George  D.  Gossard,  A.M.,  D.D.,  President 
Lebanon    Valley    College    158 

THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  AND  BROTHERHOOD  AND  LEADERSHIP— Rev. 
Charles  W.  Brewbaker,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  Secretary  Sunday-School  and  Brother- 
hood   Work     162 

THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETY  A  FACTOR  NEEDED  TO  CALL  OUT  AND 

TRAIN  LEADERS— Rev.  O.  T.  Deever,  B.D.,  Secretary  Young  People's  Work  167 

THE  POWER  OF  OUR  PRESS— Rev.  W.  R.  Funk,  D.D.,  Publishing  Agent 170 

THE  ANNUAL   CONFERENCE— Rev.   D.    D.    Lowery,  D.D.,    Superintendent   East 

Pennsylvania   Conference,   Harrisburg,    Pennsylvania    175 

HOW  REPRODUCE  THE  NATIONAL  CONGRESS  IN  THE  ANNUAL  CON- 
FERENCE SESSION?— Rev.  M.  R.  Ballinger,  A.M.,  Superintendent  Sandusky 
Conference     179 

UNITED  BRETHREN  SUMMER  TRAINING  SCHOOLS— C.  E.  Ashcraft,  B.D., 

Dean    of    York    College    181 

THE  PROBLEM  AND  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH— Rev.  C.  Whitney,  D.D., 

Secretary    Home    Missions     185 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  A  DENOMINATIONAL 

STRATEGY— Rev.   O.   D.   Wellbaum,   New  Haven,  Harrison,  Ohio,   R.    F.    D...   189 

LEADERSHIP  FOR  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH— HOW  SECURE  IT— Rev.  W. 

E.    Snyder,    Superintendent    Indiana    Conference     192 

HOW  TO   BRING  THE  LOCAL  CHURCH  TO   ITS   BEST 

THE  LOCAL  CHURCH  A  POWER   IN  EVANGELISM— Rev.   Ira  A.   Holbrook, 

Ph.D.,   D.D.,   Albia,    Iowa    196 

GOSPEL  TEAM  WORK  IN  EVANGELISM— Rev.  George  E.  Moody,  lola,  Kan- 
sas       198 

THE  RELATION  OF  BIG  TASKS  TO  SPIRITUAL  POWER  AND  ENTHUSI- 
ASM IN  THE  LOCAL  CHURCH— Rev.  S.  T.  Daugherty,  A.M.,  D.D.,  Wes- 
terville,    Ohio    202 

THE   NECESSARY   LOCAL   CHURCH    LEADERSHIP— HOW   SECURE   IT?— 

Rev.    George    E.    McDonald,    Seattle,    Washington    205 

NATIONAL  POLICY  AND  PROGRAM  FOR  THE  UNITED  BRETHREN  CHURCH 

PRAYER  A  SUPREME    FACTOR— Robert   E.    Speer,    Secretary   Foreign  Missions, 

Presbyterian    Church,    New    York    209 

THE  PRESENT  DAY  MISSIONARY  OPPORTUNITY— Robert  E.   Speer 217 

FACING   THE   NEW    CENTURY— Bishop   William   M.    Bell,    D.D.,    Pacific    Coast 

District     228 

ONE  FIXED  PURPOSE  TO  ACCOMPLISH  THE  TASK— Rev.  S.  S.  Hough, 
D.D.,  Secretary  Foreign  Missions,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  National  Men's 
Congress     234 

viii 


THE  CHURCH'S  RESOURCES,  STEWARDSHIP, 
AND  ACHIEVEMENTS 


CHRIST,  OUR  LORD 

BY    CHARLES    GALLAUDET    TRUMBULL 

Our  Heavenly  Father,  we  ask  thee,  as  only  thou  by  thy  Holy 
Spirit  canst  do  it,  to  show  us  Christ,  our  Lord,  here  this  afternoon, 
and  to  make  him  Lord  of  our  lives,  so  that  our  lives  by  his  grace 
shall  honor  him  and  witness  to  his  power  in  zvays  that  none  of  usf. 
yet  dare  to  ask  or  think.    In  his  name  we  ask  it.    Amen. 

Christ,  our  Lord !  I  was  startled  into  a  new  understanding  of 
one  of  the  verses  of  the  New  Testament  awhile  ago.  Paul,  in  writ- 
ing to  the  Corinthians  (L  Cor.  12:3),  says,  "No  man  can  say, 
Jesus  is  Lord,  but  in  the  Holy  Spirit."  Now,  the  Holy  Spirit  came 
from  heaven  to  earth  to  do  things  that  no  man  can  do ;  things  that 
only  God  can  do — to  work  miracles,  in  other  words.  And  this 
calling  Jesus  Lord  is  a  miracle.  The  empowering  of  man  to  do  it 
is  the  exclusive  work  of  God,  the  Holy  Spirit. 

I  suppose  if  I  were  to  ask  from  the  platform  for  all  the  men 
present  who  beHeve  that  Jesus  is  Lord  to  rise,  most  of  you,  per- 
haps every  man,  would  rise.  But  if  I  were  to  ask  that  every  man 
rise  who  not  only  calls  Jesus  Lord,  not  only  knows  that  Jesus  is 
Lord,  but  who  is  also  experiencing  the  lordship  of  Jesus  in  his  life, 
day  by  day,  hour  by  hour,  moment  by  moment;  the  complete  lord- 
ship of  Christ  over  himself,  over  the  sin  within  him — I  wonder  how 
many  would  rise  ?  But  I  think  that  is  part  of  what  Paul  is  talking 
about  in  this  verse.  No  man  can  say,  Jesus  is  Lord,  Lord  of  me, 
absolute  monarch,  sitting  on  the  throne  of  my  Hfe  and  in  unhin- 
dered and  undisputed  and  undefeated  power,  exercising  his  lord- 
ship in  my  life,  moment  by  moment ;  no  man  can  say  that,  declares 
Paul,  except  as  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  works  and  continues  to 
work  in  his  life.  Surely  that  is  a  miracle.  Is  it  a  miracle  that 
perhaps  we  have  not  experienced? 

1 


2  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

In  another  passage  of  one  of  Paul's  letters,  (Rom.  5:  17),  he 
says,  "For  if,  by  the  trespass  of  the  one,  death  reigned  through 
the  one ;  much  more  shall  they  that  receive  the  abundance  of  grace 
and  of  the  gift  of  righteousness  reign  in  life  through  the  one,  even 
Jesus  Christ." 

There  is  the  direct  promise  that  those  who  receive  the  abun- 
dance of  grace  may  reign,  may  get  on  to  the  throne  and  stay  there. 
A  man  w^ho  is  on  the  throne  one  day  and  off  the  next,  in  an  earthly 
kingdom,  is  not  much  of  a  king.  That  is  a  poor  apology  for  reign- 
ing. If  the  kingdom  is  to  be  a  kingdom,  he  must  get  on  the  throne 
and  stay  there,  right  through  life.  So  Paul  says  that  if  we  receive 
the  abundance  of  grace  through  Jesus  Christ  we  may  reign ;  that  is, 
we  may  get  on  the  throne  with  Christ  and  stay  there  in  life  and 
through  life.  In  other  words,  the  Holy  Spirit  wants  us  to  call  Jesus 
Lord  so  that  we  ourselves  may  share  in  his  lordship.  I  say  it 
reverently,  the  Holy  Spirit  wants  us  to  be  one  with  him  as  Lord, 
so  that  we  shall  be  in  the  heavenly  places,  on  the  throne,  with 
Christ. 

And,  men,  is  that  our  common  experience?  Do  we  live  on 
the  throne,  every  enemy  under  our  feet,  our  sinful  nature  subdued 
and  kept  subdued  all  the  time,  we  ourselves  led  always  in  triumph, 
morning,  noon,  and  night,  week  days  and  Sundays,  no  matter  what 
the  circumstances;  just  a  splendid,  glorious  march  of  triumph, 
sharing  always  in  the  lordship  of  Jesus  Christ,  so  that  our  life  is 
an  amazing  witness  to  the  power  of  God?  Is  that  our  experience? 
Or  have  we  come  to  Dayton,  some  of  us,  Christians  though  we 
are,  hungering  to  find  how  such  an  experience  can  be  had  ? 

You  remember  that  it  has  been  said,  "Either  he  is  Lord  of  all 
or  he  is  not  Lord  at  all."  Because  a  partial  Lord  is  not  a  Lord. 
A  fluctuating  Lord  has  no  lordship.  And  have  we  learned  how  to 
let  him  be  Lord  of  all  ?  There  is  many  a  man  who  believes  with  all 
his  heart  and  soul  and  mind  and  strength  that  Jesus  is  Lord,  he 
says  it,  and  knows  it,  and  believes  it,  because  he  is  a  regenerated 
man,  and  he  has  surrendered  his  life  to  Jesus  Christ,  but  he  is  living 
a  defeated  life.  He  finds  that  he  is  not  able  to  live  in  supreme  and 
continued  victory  over  the  things  that  he  knows  are  his  besetting 
sins.  So  that  while  he  can  say  in  the  Ploly  Spirit  that  Jesus  is  Lord, 
and  although  he  has  surrendered  to  that  Lord,  for  some  reason, 
somehow,  he  is  not  triumphantly  experiencing  that  lordship  in  his 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  3 

own  life.  And  perhaps  he  has  moments  of  discouragement  when 
he  says  to  himself  that  he  wonders  whether  Christ  is  Lord  at  all 
with  him,  because  he  is  not  Lord  of  all.  Not  that  he  doesn't  want 
him  to  be  Lord  of  all.  He  longs  for  this ;  but  he  has  not  found  how 
he  can  let  Christ  be  Lord  of  all.  In  other  words,  even  the  sur- 
render of  our  life  by  the  act  of  our  will  does  not  always  solve  the 
problem  of  letting  Christ  be  wholly  Lord. 

May  I  speak  of  a  personal  experience?  I  had  the  privilege  of 
being  born  and  brought  up  in  a  Christian  home.  I  cannot  remem- 
ber the  time  when  I  did  not  believe  that  Jesus  was  Savior,  the  Son 
of  God ;  I  united  with  the  church  when  a  boy,  scarcely  in  my  teens, 
then  coming  right  along,  as  so  many  of  you  have  done,  in  the  Sun- 
day school  and  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society ;  when  I  went  away 
to  college,  keeping  on  in  the  Sunday  school,  and,  after  graduation, 
entering  into  Christian  work.  But  as  the  years  went  on  I  found 
that  I  was  not  gaining  in  my  personal  Christian  life  as  I  wanted  to. 
I  had  the  privilege  of  attending  conventions  like  this,  and  heard 
some  of  the  most  consecrated  Christian  leaders  of  our  day  address 
their  audiences  on  the  secrets  of  power  in  life  and  service,  and  as 
my  life  was  set  over  against  theirs,  the  increasing  failure  of  my 
life  was  plain  to  me.  There  were  three  conspicuous  lacks  in  my 
life,  even  though  I  was  in  Christian  service,  was  reading  the  Bible, 
was  taking  time  for  prayer,  observed  the  "Morning  Watch" — all 
that  sort  of  thing — yet  these  three  lacks  stood  out  prominently  in 
my  life. 

The  first  was  that  of  failure  before  certain  besetting  sins.  I 
knew  what  those  sins  were.  I  knew  that  some  of  them  had  been 
characteristic  weaknesses  of  my  life  as  long  as  I  could  remember; 
and  it  seemed  to  me  as  though  it  ought  to  be  possible  for  a  Christian 
man  to  be  set  free  from  them,  to  be  given  permanent  victory.  I  had 
victory  occasionally,  but  habitual  victory  I  wasn't  getting.  I  read 
books  on  the  subject  of  temptation,  books  of  sound  counsel,  but 
somehow  or  other  they  didn't  meet  my  needs ;  though  they  helped, 
they  didn't  do  the  thing  permanently.  I  prayed  about  it,  but  prayer 
didn't  lead  me  out.  Men  whom  I  heard  in  gatherings  of  this  sort, 
and  whom  I  knew  as  personal  friends,  I  knew  must  be  living  a  life 
of  greater  victory  than  I  in  order  to  do  the  work  that  they  were 
doing,  and  I  wondered  how  they  did  it. 


4  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

A  second  lack  in  my  life,  conspicuously  so,  was  the  uncertainty 
of  my  spiritual  life,  the  fluctuations  in  my  fellowship  with  God. 
We  all  know  the  phrase,  ''Get  right  with  God,"  that  is  used  so 
powerfully  in  evangelistic  meetings.  A  Christian  may  know  that 
he  is  saved,  but  he  may  also  know  that,  as  he  lives  on  day  by  day, 
things  are  not  as  they  should  be  between  him  and  God.  He  may 
try  to  have  it  different ;  he  may  want  to  have  it  different,  and  pray 
for  power.  Is  not  that  the  experience  of  us  all  in  one  form  or  an- 
other? After  attending  perhaps,  some  meeting  of  this  sort,  I 
would  be  lifted  right  up  on  the  heights,  and  go  away  conscious  of 
my  closeness  to  and  fellowship  with  God;  but  it  would  not  last. 
Sooner  or  later  I  would  lose  that  closeness  of  fellowship  with  God. 
Yet  it  seemed  to  me  there  ought  to  be  a  way  by  which  a  man  could 
know  a  sustained  fellowship  with  God  which  would  be  his  habitual 
experience. 

The  third  lack  that  I  wondered  over  was  my  failure  to  see 
results  in  the  lives  of  others  through  my  Christian  service.  I  was 
doing  a  good  deal  of  Christian  service  in  the  Sunday  school,  in  other 
ways,  and  in  personal  work ;  and  while  some  one  would  occasionally 
unite  with  the  church  as  a  result  of  my  appeal,  I  was  not  seeing 
lives  revolutionized  for  Christ  through  my  service;  and  I  longed 
for  it.  I  saw  men  who  didn't  have  the  education  that  I  had,  or  the 
opportunities,  or  the  family  training;  men  who  could  not  speak 
English  correctly,  men  who  were  uncouth,  perhaps,  in  their  man- 
ner of  life,  whom  God  was  using  to  revolutionize  men  as  he  was 
not  using  me,  and  I  wondered  what  the  trouble  was. 

It  was  only  four  or  five  years  ago  that  there  began  to  come 
intimations  to  me  that  certain  Christian  leaders  of  power  had  a 
different  conception  of  Christ  from  mine.  It  was  very  vague  and 
uncertain  at  first  to  me,  and  I  rebelled  against  the  idea,  because  it 
didn't  seem  to  me  possible  that  any  man  could  have  any  better  con- 
ception of  Christ  than  I  had.  I  believed  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  Son  of  God,  and  as  God  himself,  as  one  with  God.  I  believed 
there  was  no  other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we 
must  be  saved.  I  had  received  him  as  my  personal  Savior.  What 
more  could  one  believe?  What  conception  of  Christ  could  go  be- 
yond that?  I  didn't  know,  and  1  wouldn't  admit  there  was  any; 
but  I  could  not  get  away   from  the   fact  that  certain  other  men 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  5 

seemed  to  speak  of  Christ  in  a  way  that  I  could  not  fully  under- 
stand, that  was  beyond  me. 

I  heard  a  sermon  one  summer  by  a  famous  preacher  on  the 
passage  in  Ephesians  where  Paul  speaks  of  "the  building  up  of  the 
body  of  Christ:  till  we  all  attain  unto  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  fullgrown  man,  unto 
the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  As  he  un- 
folded the  meaning  of  that  passage,  I  was  bewildered ;  I  could  not 
follow  him;  but  I  realized  that  it  was  the  most  wonderful  sermon 
I  had  ever  heard.  A  little  later  I  read  another  sermon  by  that  same 
preacher  on  "Paul's  Conception  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  and  as 
I  read  I  saw  that  it  was  the  same  message  and  the  same  Christ. 

That  autumn  I  met  a  minister  who  had  had  rare  power  in  bring- 
ing men  to  Christ.  As  we  talked  freely  together,  he  told  me  that  he 
had  found  that  the  secret  of  spiritual  pov;er,  his  best  spiritual  asset, 
was  his  consciousness  of  the  actual  presence  of  Jesus  in  his  life. 
He  said,  too,  that  Jesus  was  the  home  of  his  thoughts ;  that  when- 
ever he  was  through  having  to  apply  his  mind  in  any  particular  line 
of  thinking,  he  found  that  his  mind  turned  to  Christ,  without  any 
effort,  spontaneously  and  instinctively.  It  seemed  to  me  a  very 
beautiful  idea.  I  started  in  to  practice  it,  to  make  Christ  the  home 
of  my  thoughts,  and  w^hen  I  had  nothing  else  to  think  about  I  would, 
by  an  effort  of  the  will,  turn  my  mind  to  Christ.  It  was  rather  un- 
satisfactory, and  I  know  now  that  it  wasn't  the  experience  my  friend 
was  speaking  about,  for  Christ  had  not  become  the  habitual,  in- 
stinctive home  of  my  thoughts,  though  I  often  loved  to  think  about 
him. 

A  little  later,  when  in  Edinburgh  in  1910,  attending  the  World 
Missionary  Conference,  I  saw  that  a  famous  London  preacher,  whose 
book  on  "The  Triumphant  Life,"  had  helped  me  greatly,  was  to 
speak  one  Sunday  afternoon  to  men  on  "The  Resources  of  the 
Qiristian  Life."  I  went  eargerly  to  hear  him.  I  supposed  that  he  was 
going  to  tell  us  about  certain  fundamental  things,  such  as  Bible 
study,  prayer,  service,  and  so  on.  But  he  didn't  tell  us  about  any  of 
those  things  as  our  resources.  Almost  his  opening  sentence  was 
something  like  this,  "The  resources  of  the  Christian  life,  my  dear 
friends,  are  just  Jesus  Christ."  And  my  heart  beat  with  a  new  joy 
as  I  heard  that  word.  After  the  meeting  was  over  I  introduced  my- 
self to  him,  and  asked  if  I  could  walk  home  with  him,  and  I  tm- 


6  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

folded  to  him  something  of  my  personal  needs  that  I  have  been 
speaking  about  to  you.  He  spoke  with  me  very  sympathetically, 
and  among  other  things  he  said,  "Oh,  ]\.'Ir.  Trumbull,  if  we  woula 
only  step  out  upon  Christ  with  a  more  daring  faith,  lie  could  do  so 
much  more  for  us." 

Two  or  three  weeks  after  that,  in  London,  I  heard  a  friend  of 
mine  preach  from  Philippians  1:21,  *'To  me  to  Uve  is  Christ." 
That  phrase  had  always  been  more  or  less  of  a  puzzle  to  me.  I 
had  never  quite  understood  it ;  it  didn't  seem  quite  grammatical. 
If  Paul  had  said,  "For  me  to  live  is  to  be  Christ-like,"  or  *Tor  me 
to  live  is  to  serve  Christ,"  I  could  have  understood.  But  Paul 
didn't  say  any  of  those  things ;  he  plunged  right  beyond  all  that 
in  the  daring  claim,  "To  me  to  live  is  Christ."  And  as  my  friend 
preached  that  Sunday  evening  on  that  verse  I  saw  that  he  was  un- 
folding Christ  again  as  these  others  had  been  doing — presenting 
Christ  to  us  in  a  way  that  made  me  hungry  for  more,  a  Christ  whom 
I  did  not  yet  know.  Yet  I  had  been  for  twenty-five  years  a  sincere 
confessed  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as  my  personal  Savior. 

A  few  weeks  later  I  was  in  western  Pennsylvania  attending  a 
missionary  conference  of  young  people,  where  I  had  been  asked 
to  take  part  on  the  program.  The  first  evening  I  heard  an  address 
by  a  missionary  bishop  from  India  on  the  "Water  of  Life."  He 
reminded  us  that  Jesus  had  said,  "If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come 
unto  me  and  drink.  Lie  that  believeth  on  me,  as  the  scripture  hath 
said,  from  within  him  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water."  And  the 
speaker  asked  us  whether  we  were  having  that  experience.  He 
told  about  a  little,  old  woman  out  in  India  who  had  known  Christ 
for  only  a  year,  after  living  a  lifetime  in  heathendom,  and  yet 
from  whose  life  were  flowing  rivers  of  living  water. 

The  next  morning  I  went  alone  to  my  room,  in  the  hope  that 
I  might  be  able  to  pray  it  through  with  God.  Not  that  I  had  not 
tried  to  "pray  it  through"  many  times  before.  But  I  was  led  that 
morning  to  say,  among  other  things,  "O  God,  if  there  is  a  concep- 
tion of  Christ  that  I  have  not  got,  and  that  I  need,  won't  you  give 
it  to  me?" 

And  he  answered  my  prayer.  The  Heavenly  Father  gave  me 
a  new  Christ,  new  to  me;  he  gave  me  a  Savior  of  a  sufficiency 
beyond  anything  I  ever  dreamed  could  be  given  to  any  man  in  this 
world.     Oh,   how    wonderfully   he   met   those   three   lacks   I   have 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  7 

spoken  about!  He  gave  me  a  new  fellowship  with  God.  He 
showed  me  that  it  was  possible  to  have  victory  in  a  new  way  over 
besetting  sins.  And  in  the  next  few  months  he  showed  me  how 
Christ  could  use  a  man,  even  like  myself,  use  any  man  who  met  the 
simple  conditions  for  fruit-bearing,  for  results  in  the  lives  of  others, 
that  went  beyond  all  the  years  of  my  Christian  service  put  together 
before  that  time.  The  new  conception  of  Christ  that  he  gave  me  that 
day  was  this :  I  came  to  realize  that  Sunday  morning  that  the  many, 
many  passages  in  the  New  Testament  that  speak  of  "Christ  in  you," 
and  you  in  Christ,  "Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you,"  were  literal  fact 
instead  of  being  figures  of  speech  as  I  had  superficially  thought. 
I  had  before  thought  of  Christ  as  an  omnipotent  Savior,  ready  to 
be  alongside  of  me  all  the  time,  ready  to  help  me  do  anything  I 
needed ;  but  I  came  that  Sunday  morning  to  see  that  I  had  a  Sa- 
vior who  was  infinitely  better  than  that.  I  saw  that  he  was  a  Savior 
who  wanted  me  to  recognize  that  I  was  literally  joined  to  him  as 
a  branch  is  joined  to  the  vine,  and  that  he  and  I  were  one — that  he 
was  not  my  helper,  but  my  life;  that  he  was  ready  to  constitute 
himself  my  being,  my  very  self.  Just  as  a  certain  tree  has  been 
constituted  into  this  desk  on  which  my  hand  is  resting,  so,  just  as 
literally,  I  came  to  see  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  constituted 
himself  my  life  and  my  being.  I  saw  what  Philippians  1 :  21  meant, 
and  I  saw  it  for  the  first  time  in  my  life:  "To  me  to  live  is  Christ." 
Not  to  be  Christ-like,  no,  but  "to  me  to  live  is  Christ/'  As  a  friend 
of  mine,  reading  that  verse,  later  said,  "It  means,  'for  me  to  live  is 
for  Christ  to  live.'  "  That  is  it.  By  a  mystery  that  we  can  never 
understand  in  this  life,  Christ  has  taken  us  into  literal,  organic 
union  with  himself.  I  know  now  that  temptation  to  known  sin 
need  not  last  one  second  as  it  faces  the  holiness  and  omnipotence 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  us. 

God's  life  may  be  our  life ;  God's  throne  our  throne,  our  place 
of  abiding,  our  place  of  living  as  we  reign  in  life;  the  lordship  of 
Christ  our  lordship.  Let  me  just  read  you  a  few  sentences  that 
were  written  in  the  report  of  the  wonderful  Keswick  Convention, 
which  stands  so  triumphantly  for  the  life  of  victory  in  Christ.  Here 
are  statements  that  we  don't  often  see;  daring  claims  that  we  don't 
often  meet.  But  men,  they  are  true,  or  else  the  New  Testament 
is  a  lie.  "From  the  moment  that  a  man  turns  with  full  purpose  of 
heart  to  the  Lord,  he  is  enabled  to  do  God's  will  as  truly  as  if  he 


8  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

had  never  failed.  The  past  is  not  suffered  by  God  to  exercise  any 
disabling  influence  on  the  present.  Faith  has  the  force  of  a  habit, 
and  it  is  a  continual  experience  (we  have  seen  it  and  know  it)  that 
old  habits  and  sins  of  ill-temper  and  self-indulgence  have  been 
broken  in  a  moment.  Old  things  have  passed  away.  All  things 
have  become  new.  Whoever  in  the  strength  of  God  begins  again 
to  follow  Christ  Jesus,  may  do  so  unfettered.  Salvation  to  the 
uttermost,  whether  it  be  taken  in  respect  of  time  or  of  temptation, 
is  the  believer's  privilege.  He  cannot  be  saved  from  the  presence 
of  sin,  but  he  can  be  saved  from  its  pollution.  He  is  always  liable 
to  fall,  but  can  always  be  guarded  from  falling.  Faith  lays  hold  of 
every  piece  of  armor  at  once ;  receives  the  fitting  grace  for  every 
function  of  life,  and  brings  forth  all  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  simul- 
taneously." 

To-morrow  we  are  going  to  continue  this  subject  and  look 
more  in  detail,  than  we  have  time  to  now,  into  this  question,  how 
to  enter  into  the  fullness  of  life  in  Christ.  But  if  there  are  any  men 
present  who  are  not  going  to  be  here  to-morrow,  let  us  not  think 
for  a  moment  that  we  need  to  leave  this  entering  in  until  to-morrow. 
There  are  but  three  simple  steps : 

1.  Surrender  absolutely  and  unconditionally  to  Christ  as  Mas- 
ter of  all  that  we  are  and  all  that  we  have. 

2.  Ask  God  for  this  gift  of  the  fullness  of  Christ  as  our  life. 

3.  Believe,  then,  that  God  has  done  what  we  have  asked — not 
will  do,  but  has  done  it.  Upon  this  third  step,  the  quiet  act  of  faith, 
all  may  depend.  Faith  must  be  willing  to  believe  God  in  entire 
absence  of  any  feeling  or  evidence.  For  God's  word  is  safer,  bet- 
ter, and  surer  than  anv  evidence  of  his  word. 


ENTERING  INTO  "THE  LIFE  THAT  IS  CHRIST." 

BY    CHARLES    GALLAUDET    TRUMBULL 

"The  life  that  is  Christ,"  is  only  another  way  of  expressing  that 
marvelous  word  of  Paul's  in  Philippians  1 :  21,  "To  me  to  live  is 
Christ." 

Christ  is  life,  and  only  Christ  is  eternal  life.  And  so  the  life 
that  we  want  to  live,  the  life  more  abundant,  is  just  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  one  thing  to  know  that,  to  believe  it,  and  it  is  another  thing 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  9 

to  appropriate  it.  And  the  practical  question  before  us  as  Christian 
men  is,  how  may  we  appropriate  the  Hfe  that  is  Christ,  appropriate 
Christ  as  our  life?  Because  when  we  do  that  we  have  God's  own 
life.  We  have  let  him  bring  to  pass  in  us  that  daring  word  of 
John's  (I.  John  4:  17),  ''As  he  is,  even  so  are  we  in  this  world" — 
a  promise  that  goes  beyond  everything  that  man  of  himself  would 
dare  hope  for.  Christ  offers  to  enable  us  to  live  as  God  lives. 
That  means  that  we  have  the  desires  of  God,  that  we  have  the  in- 
terests of  God,  and,  more  wonderful  still,  that  we  have  the  freedom 
of  God — his  freedom  from  the  power  of  sin.  Not  his  freedom  from 
the  presence  of  sin,  for  we  shall  have  sin  in  us  as  long  as  we  are 
in  this  body;  but  we  may  have  his  freedom  from  the  power  of 
known  sin  in  this  Hfe,  being  as  God  is,  even  in  this  world. 

And  how  can  this  miracle  come  to  pass?  Let  us  remember 
that  victory  over  the  power  of  sin  is  not  to  be  attained  by  a  process. 
It  is  not  to  be  won  by  practice.  Now,  that  may  be  a  sharp  reversal 
of  what  we  have  supposed  all  our  lives  was  true.  It  certainly  is  a 
reversal  of  what  I  supposed  for  thirty-eight  years  was  true.  I  had 
supposed  that  victory  over  my  sins  had  got  to  be  won  by  practice, 
by  a  process ;  that  one  victor}^  meant  that  I  was  just  so  much 
stronger  for  another  victory,  and  so,  as  I  continued  to  fight  and 
to  struggle,  and  by  my  will-power  strengthened  by  Christ,  to  con- 
quer, and  conquer,  and  conquer  as  year  after  year  the  conflict  went 
on,  I  should  be  enabled  gradually  to  build  up  a  character,  a  strength 
of  will,  which  with  the  passage  of  years  would  bring  me  into  a  place 
of  victory  that  I  could  never  expect  to  have  except  through  this 
continued  process  of  practice.  There  is  nothing  in  the  Bible  to 
justify  that  mistaken  idea,  even  though  we  do  see  it  in  our  books 
and  hear  it  in  pulpits  until  we  have  come  to  accept  it  as  true. 

Victory  is  not  to  be  won  by  practice — not  the  victory  that  I  am 
talking  about,  not  the  life  of  freedom  from  the  power  of  sin  which 
God  knows.  For  this  victory  is  a  gift  from  God,  not  an  attainment 
earned  by  our  efforts.  How  many  people  here  to-day  have  been 
saved  from  the  penalty  of  their  sins  by  practice?  How  many  won 
their  salvation  from  the  penalty  of  their  sins  through  the  process  of 
years,  worked  for  it  day  after  day,  year  after  year,  until  finally 
they  said,  "Now,  I  have  by  practice  won  my  salvation?"  Not  a 
man  of  us.  And  if  there  is  any  man  here  whose  salvation  depends 
on  what  he  has  done  or  practiced,  he  has  not  got  salvation.     Sal- 


10  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

vation  is  the  gift  of  God;  and  it  does  not  take  long  to  get  it.  It 
may  take  a  long  time  to  come  to  the  point  where  we  are  willing  to 
receive  it ;  but  there  comes  a  time  in  every  man's  life  when  he  drops 
down  in  the  consciousness  of  his  helplessness  before  Jesus  Christ, 
sees  Christ  as  his  Savior,  accepts  him,  and  then  and  there  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  born  again  and  is  saved.  Salvation 
is  not  a  matter  of  practice,  though  it  should  determine  our  practice 
after  we  have  received  it.    Salvation  is  a  gift. 

Well,  men,  that  is  only  half  of  salvation,  to  be  saved  from 
the  penalty  of  our  sins  in  the  next  world.  Perhaps  it  is  the  greater 
half;  maybe  it  is  more  than  half  in  that  sense.  But  it  is  also  true 
that  there  is  another  half,  another  part  of  salvation  which  is  for  this 
life.  And  that  is  salvation  from  the  power  of  our  sins ;  it  is  that 
that  is  victory  in  this  world.  And  it  is  just  as  much  of  a  mistake 
to  suppose  that  that  victory  over  the  power  of  our  sins  is  going  to 
be  won  by  practice,  by  effort,  by  a  process,  as  it  is  to  suppose  that 
salvation  from  the  penalty  of  our  sins  can  be  won  by  a  process,  by 
effort,  or  by  practice.  The  method  of  obtaining  the  two  halves  of 
salvation  is  absolutely  identical.  And  it  is  the  tragedy  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  that  it  has  forgotten  the  second  truth,  the  second  half, 
the  half  which  means  victory  over  the  power  of  our  sins  here  in  this 
world. 

This  matter  is  just  a  simple  transaction  with  God  by  faith; 
entered  into  by  faith,  and  continued  by  faith.  The  entering  into  the 
life  that  is  Christ  is  an  act  of  faith;  it  can  be  a  single  step,  a 
single  act  at  a  single  moment  of  time;  complete,  supernatural, 
glorious  in  its  remarkable  changes  in  every  part  of  our  being.  The 
three  conditions,  or  the  three  simple  parts  of  this  one  step,  as  men- 
tioned yesterday,  are  very  definite.  I  am  speaking  now  to  Christian 
men,  to  men  who  have  already  received  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as 
their  Savior  from  the  penalty  of  their  sins ;  after  that  has  been  done, 
there  are  these  three  simple  steps : 

1.  Unconditional  surrender  to  the  mastery  of  Jesus.  That  is 
something  that  not  every  Christian  has  done.  There  are  many 
Christians,  who  necessarily  have  been  born  again  after  having  re- 
ceived Jesus  as  their  Savior,  but  who  are  not  living  in  a  conscious, 
intentional,  genuine,  and  complete  surrender  of  their  lives  to  his 
mastery  for  this  present  life.     And  that  is  absolutely  essential  to 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  11 

the  life  of  victory.  Christ  cannot  give  us  all  that  there  is  of  him- 
self until  we  give  him  all  that  there  is  of  ourselves. 

Just  what  is  meant  by  unconditional  surrender?  Well,  it  is 
the  act  of  the  will  that  says,  "Lord,  I  am  through  now  with  myself. 
I  am  through  with  every  attempt  to  direct  my  own  life.  I  am 
through  with  every  habit  that  is  displeasing  to  you.  If  there  is 
anything  that  I  have  been  holding  on  to,  in  personal  habits  of  any 
sort,  I  now  lay  them  at  your  feet  for  you  to  do  away  with  them  if 
they  are  displeasing  to  you.  I  lay  myself  at  your  feet ;  I  lay  all  my 
possessions  at  your  feet;  all  that  I  am  and  all  that  I  have.  I  give 
myself  to  you  to  be  your  bondslave  for  time  and  eternity,  that  you 
may  be  my  Absolute  Monarch,  my  Supreme  Commander  and  King." 

That  is  all  there  is  to  surrender.  It  doesn't  take  very  long. 
A  man  can  do  it  in  a  moment  if  he  will.  But  surrender  means  not 
only  the  yielding  up  of  all  our  bad  habits ;  it  means  the  yielding  up 
of  our  best  points  as  well.  That  is  something  we  have  not  always 
realized.  It  means  that,  as  we  come  into  the  presence  of  God  and 
see  him  in  his  holiness,  look  upon  him  in  the  spirit  of  the  hymn 
that  we  just  sang,  "Holy!  holy!  holy!  Lord,  God  Almighty,"  we 
shall  by  contrast  see  ourselves  even  in  our  best  aspect  to  be  worth- 
less— absolutely,  hopelessly,  poisonously  worthless  in  contrast  with 
our  Lord. 

I  know  a  man  who  has  been  for  many  years  not  only  a  pro- 
fessing Christian,  but  a  Christian  of  rare  consecration,  rare  beauty, 
and  unselfishness  of  life.  He  is  a  man  of  wonderfully  good  judg- 
ment, so  much  so  that  when  people  who  know  him  are  in  any  sort 
of  trouble  they  go  right  to  him  for  his  counsel  and  sympathy.  For 
twenty-five  years  he  had  been  pouring  himself  out  in  that  way, 
giving  of  himself  lavishly  to  others,  and  using  his  rare,  good  judg- 
ment to  counsel  others  according  to  their  need.  A  few  years  ago 
he  and  I  were  talking  together  about  this  subject  that  we  are 
considering  together  this  morning.  He  had  heard  that  there  was  a 
new  possibihty  of  victory  in  his  life,  at  points  that  he  had  not  before 
dreamed  were  possible.  He  questioned  it  at  first ;  but  finally  he 
went  to  his  knees  in  prayer  about  the  whole  matter;  and  that  day, 
as  he  was  on  his  knees  in  prayer,  he  made  a  surrender  of  himself, 
a  surrender  of  a  sort  that  he  had  not  before  even  known  was  nec- 
essary. And  one  of  the  things  he  said  was  this:  he  now  saw  that 
this    judgment   of   his — and    it   was    good   judgment — had   been    a 


12  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

matter  of  pride  to  him,  and  had  stood  between  himself  and  Christ 
as  the  supreme  Lord ;  and  he  gave  up  his  good  judgment  that  day  as 
worthless.  I  don't  mean  to  say  that  from  that  time  forth  he  was 
to  have  bad  judgment — far  from  it.  But  he  recognized  that  this 
thing  which  he  had  naturally  counted  one  of  his  best  points,  must 
be  surrendered,  must  be  counted  worthless  in  the  sight  of  God ;  and 
he  gave  it  up,  surrendered  it,  recognized  it  as  worthless,  in  such 
a  way  that  Christ  could  come  in  and  did  come  in  that  day  into  that 
man's  life  in  an  utterly  new  way,  with  a  new  and  supreme  power 
that  changed  all  things  for  him. 

Let  us  therefore  surrender  our  good  as  well  as  our  bad  in 
yielding  up  all  that  we  have  and  all  that  we  are  to  Christ.  This 
simply  means  that  we  recognize  ourselves  as  worthless  before  God. 

People  are  sometimes  troubled  with  the  question  whether  they 
haze  surrendered  completely,  after  they  have  done  all  that  they  can 
to  surrender.  This  is  likely  to  be  a  snare  that  Satan  is  trying  to 
bring  into  our  lives.  After  we  have  conscientiously  surrendered 
everything,  so  that  we  can  say,  "Lord,  I  know  of  nothing  in  my 
life  that  I  have  not  given  up  or  am  not  willing  to  give  up  if  you 
will  tell  it  to  me,"  then  we  need  have  no  more  concern  about  our 
surrender.  It  is  God's  responsibiHty,  then,  to  complete  the  sur- 
render, and  he  will  if  we  let  him  by  trusting  him,  not  ourselves. 

2.  The  second  step  in  receiving  Christ  as  the  fullness  of  our 
life  is  just  to  ask  God  for  the  gift  of  Christ  in  this  new  way.  We 
asked  Christ  to  save  us  when  we  first  received  him,  and  then  we 
said  we  would  accept  his  salvation.  We  asked  for  it,  and  we  must 
do  so  here.  God  does  not  give  to  those  who  do  not  want  to  re- 
ceive. So  this  second  step  is  just  as  simple  as  a  little  boy  going 
to  his  earthly  father  on  Christmas  morning  and  asking  for  a  Christ- 
mas present. 

3.  And  the  third  step  is  to  receive,  to  take  by  faith  this  which 
we  have  asked  God  to  give  us.  Strange  to  say,  the  third  step,  the 
act  of  simple  faith,  seems  to  be  the  hardest  step  of  the  three  for  a 
great  many  people  to  take.  Life  after  life  has  been  surrendered 
unconditionally  to  the  mastery  of  Christ,  but  has  even  then  been 
a  defeated  life.  Why?  Because  those  who  have  surrendered  could 
not  or  would  not  accept  by  faith  the  work  of  Christ  as  a  finished 
work,  completed  for  them,  which  they  could  have  at  any  time  for 
the  asking  and  taking. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  13 

One  difficulty  is  that  people  often  expect  some  consciousness 
of  a  change  in  themselves,  to  prove  that  the  thing  has  been  done. 
They  are  never  going  to  get  the  blessing  that  way.  This  matter 
is  not  a  matter  of  feeling,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  evidence,  it  is  not 
a  matter  of  proof,  at  first.  God  will  give  us  all  the  proof,  the  evi- 
dence, even  the  feeling,  that  we  can  know  what  to  do  with,  later. 
He  will  give  us  such  proof  that  our  lives  will  be  filled  with  thanks- 
giving, if  vv'e  are  willing  first  to  take  his  Word  for  proof.  But 
if  we  say,  "Send  me  the  proof,  and  then  I  will  beheve,"  we  may 
be  kept  waiting  for  the  rest  of  our  lives.  It  is  a  perilous  thing  to 
distrust  the  Word  of  God. 

So  this  third  step  is  a  wiUingness  to  thank  God  in  blindness, 
in  coldness,  in  utter  lack  of  feeling,  or  manifestation,  or  evidence, 
or  proof  of  any  sort,  and  say,  "God,  because  thou  hast  given  me 
thy  word  in  this  matter,  I  believe  thy  word  without  any  evidence 
of  it  whatsoever." 

Another  friend  of  mine,  a  consecrated.  Christian  man,  remark- 
ably successful  in  business,  came  to  believe  that  he  needed  some- 
thing more  of  Christ  in  his  life  than  he  had  received,  a  new,  com- 
pleter victory,  and  he  had  been  for  some  time  groping  after  it 
and  praying  for  it.  One  day  he  asked  me  if  three  of  us  couldn't 
pray  about  the  matter  together.  So  he  and  a  friend  and  I  went  into 
my  private  office  and  knelt  down  and  prayed.  We  all  prayed.  He 
prayed  for  himself,  very  simply.  There  was  no  question  about  his 
surrender,  and  there  was  no  question  about  his  hunger  for  all  that 
God  could  give  him.  When  we  got  up  from  our  knees,  he  said,  *T 
don't  see  that  anything  has  happened" ;  and  he  seemed  disappointed. 
I  suggested,  "Don't  you  think  that  you  had  better  thank  God  for 
what  he  has  done?  I  don't  believe  that  you  can  do  any  more  about 
it.  You  have  done  all  you  can.  You  have  surrendered.  You  have 
asked  him  for  this  blessing.  What  more  can  you  do?"  And  I 
explained,  "If  you  should  loan  me  some  money,  I  believe  you  have 
enough  confidence  in  me  to  be  quite  sure  that  I  would  pay  that 
money  back  to  you,  even  if  I  didn't  give  you  any  slip  of  paper  with 
my  name  on  it  as  evidence  that  I  was  going  to  pay  the  money. 
Now,  if  you  are  willing  to  believe  in  me  without  any  evidence  of  that 
sort,  aren't  you  as  willing  to  believe  in  God  without  evidence? 

Said  he,  "I  believe  you  are  right." 


14  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

'Then  let  us  kneel  down  and  thank  God  for  having  done  all 
that  we  have  asked  in  your  life." 

And  in  quiet,  unemotional,  blind  faith  he  did  so;  he  just 
thanked  God  for  having  done  all  that  he  had  asked,  and  he  got  up 
and  went  out  from  the  office,  no  change  in  feeling,  no  difference  of 
any  sort  that  he  was  conscious  of  in  his  life. 

The  next  morning  early  he  and  I  were  talking  over  the  tele- 
phone together,  and  that  telephone  wire  fairly  burned  with  what 
he  was  finding  difficulty  in  saying  to  me,  as  he  tried  to  tell  me 
of  the  evidence  that  God  had  been  pouring  into  his  life,  the  change 
that  God  had  wrought  in  his  life,  the  way  that  God  had  already 
been  using  him  as  a  witness.  He  had  received  the  fullness  of  the 
life  that  is  Christ.  But,  men,  he  took  it  before  he  had  any  evi- 
dence of  it.  He  believed  in  God  as  Abraham  believed  God,  and  that 
was  counted  unto  him  a  new  righteousness. 

So  let  us  be  clear  on  that  last  point :  The  act  of  faith,  cold  faith, 
if  necessary,  blind  faith  if  necessary.  Take  God's  word  as  invio- 
lable. Let  us  never — I  say  it  reverently — commit  the  sin  of  asking 
God  to  prove  to  us  that  he  is  not  a  liar ! 

We  do  not  need  to  think  about  this  whole  matter  very  long, 
if  we  have  once  seen  it  clearly.  I  was  speaking  on  the  subject  one 
time  at  Silver  Bay,  and  later  one  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries  in 
one  of  our  eastern  cities  came  and  told  me  of  his  experience.  Just 
after  that  meeting  he  had  gone  out  with  another  man,  and  they 
had  been  talking  the  thing  over.  One  of  them  said,  **Well,  he's  got 
my  number  all  right,"  referring  to  what  I  had  said  about  those 
three  characteristic  failures  in  the  Christian  life. 

Said  my  friend,  "What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 

'T'm  going  to  think  it  over,"  was  the  reply. 

"What  do  you  do  that  for  ?"  challenged  my  friend. 

The  man  looked  at  him  in  surprise,  and  said,  *'Why  shouldn't  I  ?" 

"Why  don't  you  go  and  take  it  ?"  was  the  answer. 

And  the  man  who  was  telling  me  of  the  conversation  did  just 
that ;  he  didn't  waste  time  in  thinking  it  over ;  he  went  and  "took  it" 
— Christ  as  a  new  Lord  and  Life,  in  whom  old  things  are  passed 
away,  behold,  all  things  become  new.  Some  weeks  later,  when 
back  in  the  city,  he  called  on  me,  but  I  was  out.    I  found  this  note 


Otir  Men  and  Their  Task  15 

on  my  desk,  "Back  in  the  same  old  place,  at  the  same  old  job,  but, 
praise  God,  not  the  same  old  man !" 

If  there  are  any  here  who  have  been  conscious  of  the  need  of 
a  new  life  of  victory,  of  a  life  led  always  in  triumph,  hid  with  Christ 
in  God,  let  us  take  it  now,  because  it  is  a  finished  work.  Christ 
finished  it  on  Calvary,  as  the  Son  of  man.  He  broke  the  power  of 
our  sins.  Read  the  sixth  chapter  of  Romans  and  see  if  it  is  not 
all  there.  "We  who  died  to  sin,  how  shall  we  any  longer  live 
therein?  .  .  .  We  were  buried  therefore  with  him  through  bap- 
tism into  death ;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  through 
the  glory  of  the  Father,  so  we  also  might  walk  in  newness  of  life. 
.  .  .  Our  old  man  was  crucified  with  him,  .  .  .  that  so  we 
should  no  longer  be  in  bondage  to  sin.  .  .  .  Reckon  ye  also  your- 
selves to  be  dead  unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  .  .  . 
For  sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  you;  for  ye  are  not  under 
law,  but  under  grace." 

Do  not  make  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  I  am  suggesting 
that  we  can  have  a  single  transaction  with  God  and  then  say,  "Now, 
I  can  never  fail  again."  Having  entered  in,  as  we  can  by  a  single 
transaction  of  faith,  then  we  must  stay  there  by  continuing  that 
same  method,  a  moment-by-moment  trust  and  surrender,  for  the 
rest  of  our  lives.  A  man  can  enter  gloriously  into  the  fullness  of 
new  life  in  Christ,  and  he  can  fail  after  that  tragically.  But,  praise 
God,  Christ  can  restore  him  again.  We  are  not  deprived  of  our 
power  of  free  will.  The  sinful  man  within  us  is  not  annihilated. 
We  are  not  made  sinless;  we  are  not  made  perfect  in  this  life. 
But  having  once  received  Christ  in  his  fullness  into  our  life,  we  can 
moment  by  moment  continue  to  believe  in  him ;  and  then  he  is  more 
than  sufficient  to  free  us  from  the  power  of  sin,  and  to  keep  us  from 
its  power,  moment  by  moment,  until  we  see  him  face  to  face.  This 
is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our  faith. 


MAN  A  STEWARD  AND  CO-WORKER  WITH  GOD 

BY   H.    H.    FOUT 

It  thrills  my  heart  to  look  into  your  faces,  brethren  of  the  Con- 
gress, and  to  know  the  purpose  that  brings  you  together.  You  have 
come  as  representatives  of  the  various  conferences,  and  at  your 


16  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

own  expense,  not  for  pleasure,  but  for  high  and  serious  business. 
You  are  here  to  consider  the  living  problems  now  confronting  the 
Church,  to  pray  for  a  clearer  vision  of  duty,  and  to  plan  for  the 
larger  endeavor  and  sacrifice  demanded  by  the  vision. 

This  Congress  marks  the  greatest  day  and  the  greatest  event 
in  the  history  of  the  United  Brethren  Church.  It  manifests  the 
presence  of  an  awakening  which  is  a  part  of  the  rising  religious 
consciousness  of  universal  manhood,  presaging  subsequent  and  more 
important  victories  for  our  King. 

THE  L0RD''S  CALL  TO  THE  HEROIC  IN   MEN 

In  the  beginning  of  the  world  conquest  campaign,  our  Lord 
called  men  to  his  standard,  put  into  their  hands  the  great  commis- 
sion, and  sent  them  forth  to  preach  and  campaign  and  organize, 
and  to  carry  forward  the  mighty  enterprise  of  evangelizing  the 
world.  In  his  call  he  appeals  to  the  heroic  in  men — the  very  qual- 
ities that  men  admire,  and  that  characterize  a  good  soldier.  "If 
any  man  would  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up 
his  cross,  and  follow  me."  The  truly  heroic  age  dawned  with  the 
Star  of  Bethlehem.  ''The  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many." 

In  this  heated,  rushing  life  of  ours;  in  this  fierce  battle,  this 
tremendous  grapple  of  antagonistic  principles ;  in  this  unprecedented 
conflict  between  light  and  darkness,  between  belief  and  unbelief,  the 
kingdom  needs  men  for  its  extension  more,  if  possible,  than  in  any 
other  period  of  the  church's  history  since  our  Lord  called  and  com- 
missioned the  twelve. 

This  National  Congress  of  United  Brethren  Men  and  similar 
conventions  of  other  communions,  are  called  because  Christian 
men  generally,  and  especially  men  of  official  and  commanding  rela- 
tionship in  the  church,  need  to  be  aroused  to  larger  initiative  and 
service  for  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  earth, 
that  the  tremendous  powers  of  our  Christian  manhood  might  make 
themselves  felt  in  religion  as  they  are  to-day  in  commerce,  and  that 
the  work  of  the  church  might  be  of  first  importance. 

WHAT  THE  RECOGNITION   OF  STEWARDSHIP  WOULD   MEAN 

This  need  will  be  met  in  proportion  as  the  stewardship  of  life 
is  recognized.    *'Ye  are  not  your  own,"  saith  the  Lord.    Life  is  a 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  17 

stewardship.  We  have,  no  doubt,  always  in  a  way  accepted  the 
truth  of  this  principle.  It  is  incorporated  in  our  creeds,  hymns,  and 
prayers,  but  we  have  often  failed  in  keeping  it  prominent  in  the 
foreground  of  the  field  of  vision,  and  especially  in  making  it  real  in 
life.  The  great  necessity  to-day  is  that  men  should  bring  their  lives 
practically  under  the  dominating  influence  of  this  principle,  to 
translate  into  the  practical  life  our  theoretical  convictions  that  all 
we  have  is  not  ours,  but  our  Lord's,  to  whom  we  must  give  account. 
When  the  Lordship  of  Jesus  is  recognized  two  thoughts  will 
possess  us.  One  is,  that  all  things  we  have — life,  time,  talents,  in- 
fluence, possessions — are  committed  to  us  as  a  trust  from  him,  not 
to  be  used  selfishly,  for  ourselves,  but  unselfishly,  for  Christ  and  for 
others ;  the  other  is,  that  Jesus  is  our  absolute  Lord,  our  King,  our 
unqualified  Emperor.  It  will  be  our  zeal  to  exalt  him,  to  make  him 
sovereign  of  our  lives,  and  to  make  him  sovereign  ruler  of  the  whole 
world.  There  is  but  one  Master  who  has  the  right  to  reign  over 
and  rule  our  lives,  and  to  rule  the  world — it  is  Jesus  Christ,  "King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords."  As  Matthew  Arnold  puts  it,  "He  has 
the  air  of  authority  and  finality."  What  would  it  mean  to  the  men 
of  this  Congress,  and  to  the  Church  we  represent,  if  we  might  say 
in  very  earnest:  "No  other  Lord  but  thee  will  we  know.  No  other 
name  but  thine  confess."  We  would  then  fully  come  to  our  own  in 
power  and  efficiency  as  a  church,  and  be  worthy  of  our  place  in  the 
vast  plan  of  God.  It  would  mean  the  discovery  and  development 
of  latent  resources. 

OUR  LATENT  RESOURCES 

Discoveries  in  the  scientific  world  continually  reveal  to  us 
forces  hitherto  almost  concealed.  There  is  a  similar  revelation  of 
latent  resources  in  the  business  world,  the  same  is  even  more 
largely  true  in  the  religious  world.  Latent  resources  yet  untouched, 
mighty  energies  that  if  released  and  belted  up  to  the  machinery  of 
the  kingdom  would  set  whirling  the  wheels  of  the  machinery  in  all 
the  departments  of  the  work.    These  are: 

1.  Life  itself.  Life  is  greater  than  any  of  its  parts.  George 
Elliott  well  says,  "The  greatest  gift  which  one  can  bestow  upon  his 
age  is  the  gift  of  himself."  The  greatest  offering  which  one  can 
make  to  God  is  the  offering  of  himself.    The  Christian  life  begins  in 


18  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

this  confession,  made  in  full  and  sincere  surrender,  "Jesus  Christ, 
my  Lord."     It  is  the  starting  point  and  goal  of  all  true  life. 

2.  Possessions.  ]\Ioney  is  a  trust  committed  to  us  by  Him 
for  which  we  must  give  an  account  as  stewards.  The  tithe  is  the 
Lord's,  which,  if  brought  into  the  storehouse,  would  supply  the 
means  to  multiply  many  times  the  effectiveness  of  all  the  agencies 
of  the  church.  The  quadrupling  of  our  means  and  forces  would 
be  perfectly  possible  if  proper  apprehension  of  the  stewardship  of 
money  can  become  the  impression  of  the  entire  membership  of  the 
church,  and  if  Scriptural  methods  can  become  the  regular  means 
for  the  expression  of  their  religious  life.  We  must  see  Christ  and 
the  kingdom  rather  than  assessments  and  budgets.  Our  gifts  must 
be  prompted  by  love  to  our  Lord  and  the  recognition  of  our  steward- 
ship.   They  must  be  made  a  part  of  our  worship. 

3.  Talent.  For  the  use  of  this  inestimable  gift,  no  matter 
what  the  number,  an  account  must  be  given.  The  King's  business 
to-day  demands  the  largest  use  and  investment  of  the  talent,  train- 
ing, and  experience,  of  the  business  laymen  of  the  church.  The 
urgent  need  is  that  Christian  business  men  give  the  same  energy  and 
intelligence  to  the  work  of  the  church  that  they  now  give  to  their 
own  private  affairs,  that  they  give  themselves  as  assiduously  to  the 
study  of  the  literature  of  the  kingdom  as  they  do  to  the  literature  of 
their  own  business. 

4.  Social  Influence.  Tremendous  power  for  good  may  be 
exerted  upon  men  by  their  associates.  Who  but  God  can  measure 
the  power  of  that  wonderful  something  we  call  personality?  As  a 
rule,  our  office-bearers  have  not  realized  their  personal  obligations 
to  the  unsaved,  nor  grasped  life's  greatest  opportunity  in  the  serv- 
ice of  God.  They  are  pre-eminently  the  men  to  influence  by  per- 
sonal effort  the  men  of  the  world  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  Oirist. 
There  is  no  greater  force  now  within  the  life  of  the  church.  Indeed, 
it  is  a  grave  question  whether  there  is  any  other  force  to  reach 
many  of  them. 

The  secret  of  all  successful  missionary  work  is  putting  a  saved 
life  over  against  the  life  that  is  impoverished.  Dwight  L.  Moody, 
the  greatest  evangelist  of  the  century,  was  brought  to  Christ  through 
the  personal  appeal  of  a  business  man.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  the 
greatest  Sunday-school  editor  of  the  century,  was  won  to  Christ 
through  a  letter  from  a -friend.    John  B.  Gough,  probably  the  great- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  19 

est  leader  in  temperance  reform  of  the  century,  was  brought  to  Jesus 
by  Joel  Stratton.  the  cobbler.  Savonarola,  that  boy  who  had  under 
his  brow  and  in  his  heart  all  the  possibilities  of  republicanism  and 
freedom,  was  brought  to  Christ  by  an  humble  monk  from  the  moun- 
tains of  Italy.  Charles  H.  Spurgeon,  that  boy  who  had  in  him 
the  possibilities  of  the  greatest  preacher  since  the  Apostle  Paul, 
was  reborn  through  the  instrumentality  of  an  humble  missionary  en 
the  outskirts  of  a  great  city. 

O  men,  this  courageous,  consecrated,  conscientious,  personal 
effort  in  store  and  office,  in  factory  and  street,  and  everywhere, 
would  solve  the  increasing  problem  of  how  to  reach  the  host  of  men 
outside  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  would  crowd  the  door  of  the  king- 
dom with  incomers. 

5.  Stewardship  involves  the  responsibilities  of  the  home  with 
Christian  training  in,  and  the  conservation  of,  child  life  to  the  king- 
dom, and  there  is  none  more  w'eighty.  Around  each  of  a  thousand 
cradles  men  and  w-omen  stand  daily  saying,  **What  manner  of  child 
shall  this  be?*'  To  wdiom  God  answers,  saying,  ''Take  this  child 
and  train  him  for  me."  Blackstone's  Handbook  of  English  Law 
defines  the  parent  as  in  loco  Dei — "in  place  of  God."  The  tendency 
of  our  busy  age  to  ignore  and  shift  parental  responsibility  for  chil- 
dren's moral  and  religious  education  is  perilous.  No  business  in- 
terest can  be  of  such  importance  as  to  justify  a  man's  evasion  of  the 
sacred  duties  which  he  owes  to  his  family.  What  will  it  proht  a 
father  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  children?  "When 
we  allow  the  Good  Shepherd  to  gather  the  lambs  in  his  bosom,  he 
will  be  compelled  to  make  fewer  journeys  out  to  the  wild  and  bare 
mountains  that  he  may  recover  the  lost  to  the  safety  and  peace  of 
his  blessed  fold." 

6.  Time  is  a  trust,  a  stewardship.  We  may  rob  God  by  with- 
holding time  that  belongs  to  him  as  well  as  by  withholding  tithes 
and  offerings.  The  call  is  to  give  more  time  to  God's  worship  and 
work.  His  w-ork  demands  a  definite  and  not  a  subordinate  place 
in  the  program  of  each  day's  duties  and  obligations. 

UNDER   THE    SPELL    OF   THE    SENSE    OF    I.MMEDL\Cy. 

The  challenge  of  the  present  world  situation  is  for  Christian 
men  everywhere  to  come  under  the  spell  of  the  sense  of  immediacy. 
This   Congress  will   fail  in  its  purpose  if  it  does  not  profoundly 


20  Owr  Meii  and  Their  Task 

impress  the  fact  that  this  is  a  time  of  rising  tides.  There  are  some 
seas  that  can  only  be  crossed  with  the  tide,  and  it  is  always  best 
to  take  advantage  of  a  rising  tide. 

Napoleon  said  the  time  to  bring  up  the  reserves  is  when  the 
enemy's  lines  are  beginning  to  waver.  Present-day  leaders  and 
seers  are  assuring  us  that  we  can  do  more  in  the  next  five  years, 
than  we  can  do  in  the  fifteen  years  that  follow,  if  we  miss  this  oppor- 
tunity. 

Then  by  every  consideration  which  can  give  weight  with 
thoughtful  minds  let  us  resolve  to  give  ourselves  utterly  to  Him 
and  do  it  from  this  instant.  We  have  electric  sentences  to  thrill 
the  world.  "England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty,"  was  the 
sentence  that  caused  the  blood  of  the  English  soldier  to  tingle  in  his 
veins.  When  the  great  Paul  would  gather  up  all  his  exhortations 
into  one  great,  splendid  burning  sentence,  when  he  would  put  the 
trumpet  to  his  lips  and  sound  a  blast  that  should  stir  the  hearts  of 
those  to  whom  he  was  speaking,  he  gave  forth  only  the  one  sen- 
tence, "Quit  you  like  men.''  Boys,  don't  waste  any  shots,"  shouted 
Andrew  Jackson,  as  he  saw  the  long  line  of  red-coats  advancing  at 
the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  "Make  every  shot  count,  we  must  finish 
this  business  to-day!"  That  is  the  point.  We  cannot  afiford  to  be 
prodigal  of  our  powers.  Let  us  waste  neither  time  nor  energy  in 
things  of  doubtful  import.  Here  is  the  supreme  thing.  Let  us  do 
it  noiv! 

"Time  worketh :  let  me  work,  too ; 
Time  undoeth :  let  me  do ; 
Busy  as  time,  my  work  I  ply, 
Till  I  rest  in  the  rest  of  eternity. 

"Sin  worketh :  let  me  work,  too ; 
Sin  undoeth :  let  me  do ; 
Busy  as  sin,  my  work  I  ply, 
Till  I  rest  in  the  rest  of  eternity. 

"Death  worketh:  let  me  work,  too; 
Death  undoeth :  let  me  do ; 
Busy  as  death,  my  work  I  ply, 
Tilll  rest  in  the  rest  of  eternity." 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  21 

THE  CHURCH  PLUS  GOD 

We  are  not  only  stewards,  but  co-workers  with  God.  This  fact 
makes  certain  the  final  outcome.  He  gave  the  church  a  warrant  of 
success  in  executing  his  world  charter  when  he  said :  "Lo,  I  am  with 
you."  ''All  power  is  given  unto  me."  The  church  is  human,  plus 
God. 

Men,  he  asks  us  that  we  put  our  all  into  the  business.  But  he 
asks  no  more  than  he  gives ;  that  is  all  of  us  for  himself,  and  all  of 
himself  to  us.  Human  strength  is  inadequate.  Victory  hinges  upon 
our  relations  to  him.  My  brothers,  the  need  of  the  hour  is  not 
primarily  for  more  eminence  of  the  church  as  an  institution,  not 
more  men  to  proclaim  her  message  and  more  money  to  support  them. 
The  supreme  need  is  that  of  a  larger  manifestation  of  the  super- 
natural in  the  whole  undertaking.  Nothing  less  than  a  great  man- 
ifestation of  superhuman  wisdom,  superhuman  love,  superhuman 
power  can  meet  the  present,  unprecedented  world  situation.  All  of 
which  is  conditioned  upon  the  relation  of  the  church  to  the  source 
of  power.  In  mechanics,  power  depends  on  good  connections.  The 
same  law  holds  true  in  spiritual  power  as  in  mechanical.  There  must 
be  good  connections.  The  power  is  as  free  as  the  sunlight,  as 
mighty  as  the  tides,  as  abundant  as  electricity,  as  omnipotent  as  God, 
but  the  connection  must  be  made.  This  will  bring  the  revival  that 
will  indeed  revitalize  the  church,  that  will  restore  the  sanctity  of  the 
home  and  the  Sabbath,  reverence  for  the  church,  refinement  of  con- 
science, purity  of  moral  judgment;  the  revival  that  will  build  or  re- 
build family  altars,  that  will  restore  the  almost  worldwide,  forgotten 
secret  of  prevailing  prayer,  and  will  put  the  fiery  heart  of  the  old 
apostles  into  the  new  occasions  of  the  new  century. 

The  church  halts — not  for  an  open  door — but  halts  because  of 
the  need  of  the  one  supreme  equipment  that  will  impart  power  equal 
to  her  tasks. 

We  recall  a  handful  of  men  in  an  upper  room,  full  of  enthusi- 
asm; but  they  were  reined  in  from  their  impulses  and  commanded 
to  wait  for  the  enduement  of  power.  The  church  to-day  must  wait 
— wait,  in  the  old-time  way,  for  the  old-time  power.  Then  the 
bugles  will  sound,  and  the  hosts  will  be  gathered  for  the  triumphant 
march.  God  of  our  fathers,  give  us  that  equipment !  Only  so  shall 
we  be  able,  and  worthy  to  hold  in  trust  what  his  hand  has  given ! 


22  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

"God  of  our  fathers,  known  of  old — 
Lord  of  our  far-flung  battle  line — 
Beneath  whose  awful  hand  we  hold 
Dominion  over  palm  and  pine — 
Lord,  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget ! 

"The  tumult  and  the  shouting  dies — 
The  captains  and  the  kings  depart- 
Still  stands  thine  ancient  sacrifice, 
An  humble  and  a  contrite  heart, 
Lord,  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet. 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget !" 


STRATEGIC  ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  THE  LAST  CENTURY 

BY  J.   B.   SHOWERS 

While  listening  to  the  preceding  addresses,  I  have  been 
wondering  whether  within  these  walls  there  sits  a  prophet  capable 
of  computing  the  potency  of  this  hour  and  of  foretelling  its  issues. 
You  are  to  be  congratulated  upon  being  the  leaders  of  this  great 
denomination  at  such  an  eventful  time  as  this.  May  you  always 
remember  that  the  thoughts  and  hearts  of  over  three  hundred  thou- 
sand United  Brethren  are  turned  toward  you  from  China,  Japan, 
the  Philippines,  x\frica,  Porto  Rico,  and  the  ever-increasingly  en- 
riched fields  of  America.  In  turn  your  thoughts  are  to  go  out  to 
them  and  to  the  unevangelized  portions  of  the  world.  I  have  asked 
this  map  to  be  prepared  that  during  the  Congress  you  might  have 
it  before  you  to  carry  you  in  thought  to  the  needy  fields  of  America, 
Africa,  and  Asia,  whose  benighted  souls  unremittingly  call  unto  you 
for  deliverance.  God's  challenge  to  you  is  the  greatest  challenge  to 
man.  There  is  an  unusual  readiness  on  the  part  of  our  people  to 
assume,  at  your  command,  the  responsibility  for  their  share  of  the 
world's  conversion.  If  the  task  remains  unfinished  the  blame  must 
rest  largely  at  the  door  of  this  Congress.  Let  the  piety,  sanity, 
vision,  and  consecration  of  Otterbcin  and  Boehm  characterize  our 
present  leadership.     Lead  out  vigorously  and  the  laity  will  yield 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  23 

unwavering  allegiance.     Let  us  here  reiterate  our  convictions  and 
declare  our  purposes. 

THE   NEW  CALL  TO  A   NEW   CONSECRATION 

It  is  well  that  this  Congress  opens  with  a  call  to  a  new  conse- 
cration to  the  lordship  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  Apostle  Peter  furn- 
ishes us  the  watchword  in  his  First  Epistle,  chapter  three  and  at 
verse  fifteen.  "Sanctify  in  your  hearts  Jesus  Christ  as  Lord." 
This,  probably,  was  the  first  great  confession  of  the  Christian 
church — as  it  certainly  was  of  Otterbein  and  Boehm — and  victory 
has  never  deserted  her  banners  so  long  as  that  lordship  has  been 
declared  and  recognized;  but  whenever  in  thought  and  expression 
that  fundamental  doctrine  has  been  allowed  to  lapse,  the  dark  ages 
of  the  church  have  come.  The  mind  of  this  age  is  prepossessed  : 
modern  science  and  discovery  have  given  us  a  new  world,  quite  as 
distinct  as  that  of  Elizabeth,  Raleigh,  and  Shakespeare,  for  whose 
conquest  the  primary  requisite  is  the  acceptance  of  Jesus'  lordship. 

WORLD  CONDITIONS  AT  CLOSE  OF  EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY 

Let  us  recall  the  world  conditions  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  This  section  of  our  country,  where  we  are  now  gathered, 
then  belonged  to  the  great  Northwest  Territory,  where  territorial 
government  and  national  expanse  really  began  for  us.  The  great 
Mississippi  River  was  then  our  western  boundary,  and  when  our 
National  leaders  contemplated  pushing  our  frontiers  westward, 
mau}^  saw,  in  such  action,  our  national  ruin.  College  societies  and 
organizations  of  many  descriptions  debated  the  question  and  decided 
against  such  calamitous  steps.  To-day  a  vaster  empire  lies  to  the 
west  of  the  Father  of  Waters  than  to  the  east,  and  now  "the  day 
of  judgment  is  our  western  boundary."  If  he  were  alive  to-day  and 
standing  upon  the  great  hill  back  of  his  boyhood  home,  Otterbein, 
in  vision,  would  not  only  see  these  new  conditions  in  the  west,  but 
would  be  startled  by  the  transformations  of  Europe.  His  native 
land  was  then  divided  into  small  principalities,  each  a  separate 
state,  but  now  united  into  a  great  empire.  France  was  then  almost 
mistress  of  the  world  through  the  unexampled  leadership  of  Napo- 
leon, whose  armies  caused  Europe  fairlv  to  tremble  and  Avhose 
power  was  not  broken  until  two  years  after  Otterbein's  death. 
Italy  was  then  disunited  and  the  Turkish  power  was  feared. 


24  Ottr  Men  and  Their  Task 

The  moral  and  social  conditions  of  the  time  almost  beggar 
description.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  slavery  was  then  in  Russia,  Prus- 
sia, Austria,  and  America,  while  now  if  slavery  exists  anywhere  in 
the  world,  it  does  so  in  violation  of  law.  Africa  was  then  prac- 
tically an  unknown  land  awaiting  until  the  year  of  Otterbein's  death 
for  the  birth  of  the  man  destined  to  be  its  great  missionary  ex- 
plorer. China  and  Japan  were  so  securely  walled  in  and  closed  to 
western  progress  that  over  a  half-century  passed  before  their  gates 
swung  ajar.  When  the  nineteenth  century  opened  there  was  not  a 
Protestant  Christian  in  China  or  Japan,  and  but  a  few  in  India. 
Europe  had  been  evangelized  and  had  fought  the  battle  anew  for 
Christian  liberty  of  individual  conscience,  but  within  the  Reformed 
churches  there  was  no  great  passion  for  the  conversion  of  the  non- 
Christian  world.  Even  in  America  the  rehgious  conditions  were 
deplorable:  men  attended  divine  service  by  stealth  lest  they  should 
be  known  to  do  so  by  their  unreligious  companions.  Out  of  such 
conditions  the  Holy  Spirit  called  men  to  leadership  in  the  spiritual 
conquests  of  the  world  and  was  not  disappointed. 

THE  PRESENT  WORLD  SITUATION  AND  THE  GOSPEL 

What  of  the  present  world  situation  and  the  gospel?  In 
America  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  there  were,  in  round 
numbers,  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand  Christians.  To-day 
there  are  thirty-six  millions.  Instead  of  its  being  an  unpopular 
thing  to  be  a  Christian,  the  unpopular  man  is  he  who  remains  un- 
identified with  a  Sunday-school  class  or  church.  The  greatest  con- 
tributions of  life  and  money  for  world  conquest  for  Christ  come 
from  America. 

Then,  what  a  change  in  Asia !  Japan  was  awakened  out  of  her 
oriental  slumber  by  the  insistent  call  of  Commodore  Perry's  fleet. 
Real  missionary  work  began  there  in  1859,  and  to-day  the  Prot- 
estant Christians  number  seventy-five  thousand.  Morrison  began 
his  missionary  activities  in  China  in  1807  and  long  awaited  the  first 
convert ;  but  to-day  they  number  over  two  hundred  thousand.  The 
first  converts  in  Korea  were  baptized  Christmas  Day,  1887 — within 
a  quarter  of  a  century  they  number  three  hundred  thousand,  and 
have  as  their  goal  a  miUion  more.  India,  opened  by  Ziegenbalg  and 
Carey,  now  has  within  her  borders  a  Christian  leaven  of  three 
and  a  half  million  Christians.    A  revival  has  recently  begun  in  India 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  25 

when  not  only  whole  families,  but  whole  villages  and  towns  have 
become  Christian.  Through  the  great  Christian,  statesmanlike 
leadership  of  Livingstone,  Stanley,  and  Crawford,  dark  Africa  is 
being  effectively  opened  to  the  good  news  of  Christ  and  Christi- 
anity as  in  deadly  combat  with  Mohammedanism.  The  light  has 
come  and  Africa  is  awakening  to  the  new  day. 

There  are  said  to  be  five  hundred  and  forty-six  million  Chris- 
tians in  the  world  to-day,  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  million  Mo- 
hammedans, and  eight  hundred  and  eighty-eight  millions  of  other 
non-Christians. 

The  Sunday  schools  of  the  world  now  have  about  twenty-nine 
million  scholars  and  teachers.  An  army  of  twenty-five  thousand 
foreign  missionaries,  plus  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  thousand  na- 
tive workers  are  leaders  in  missionary  conquests,  while  the  whole 
number  of  communicants  in  missionary  fields  is  about  five  millions. 
Thirty  milHons  of  dollars  per  year  are  now  contributed  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  world.  Instead  of  slavery  we  have  to-day 
old-age  pensions,  accident  insurance,  employer's  liability  laws,  and 
laws  regulating  the  labor  of  women  and  children.  In  his  recent 
visit  to  the  Orient  and  near  east.  Dr.  John  R.  Mott  sometimes  had 
an  attendance  at  his  meetings  of  from  two  thousand  in  India  to 
five  thousand  in  China.  Much  has  been  done,  but  the  whitened 
fields  call  loudly  for  an  increased  number  of  laborers. 

CHRIST''S    FIGHT   FOR   RECOGNITION    WITHIN    HIS    CHURCH 

The  Christian  church  has  won  us  greater  conquest  than  that  of 
winning  the  Roman  empire  for  Christianity.  Starting  with  the 
clear  declaration  of  the  lordship  of  Christ  at  Pentecost,  they  had, 
within  three  centuries,  conquered  the  classical  paganism  of  Greece 
and  Italy  and  subdued  the  mighty  antagonism  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire. From  Jerusalem  to  Nicea  is  a  path  made  glorious  by  the  con- 
quests of  the  earlier  church.  Within  that  time  the  gospel  was  car- 
ried eastward.  If  India  and  the  East  are  darkened  and  closed  to 
gospel  messengers  at  this  time,  the  cause  is  discernible — the  false 
note  about  the  person  of  Christ.  Pautaenus,  principal  of  the  Chris- 
tian College  at  Alexandria,  had  been  sent  to  the  East  by  the  Bishop 
of  Alexandria  upon  request  from  the  eastern  Christians.  This  great 
philosopher  and  Christian  teacher  made  a  profound  impression  upon 
those  countries,  but  the  Nestorians,  with  a  lowly  view  of  Christ, 


26  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

followed  and  prepared  the  way  for  Mohammedanism  and  Hindu- 
ism, which  ultimately  shut  the  East  to  Christianity.  From  this 
eastern  land  came  iVbraham  and  through  him  the  Hebrews  and  our 
Old  Testament  Scriptures  and  even  Christ  himself,  so  that  we  are 
now  really  in  process  of  evangelizing  our  fatherland,  necessitated 
by  the  non-recognition  of  the  lordship  of  Christ.  The  fact  should 
sober  us. 

During  the  next  twelve  centuries  the  countries  of  Europe  were 
evangelized  and  the  Reformation  necessitated.  Then  followed  a 
critical  pause  for  two  centuries  more,  when  missionary  activity  was 
unknown.  During  the  Reformation  period,  the  home  conflict  was 
so  severe  as  to  call  for  all  the  energv'  and  attention  of  the  Reformed 
forces;  but  one  cannot  help  but  Vvonder  that  no  missionary  work 
began  immediately  thereafter.  Some  explanation  is  found,  how^- 
ever.  in  the  attitude  of  Luther  and  Calvin  to  the  great  commission. 
Luther  frankly  said  that  the  great  commission  had  already  been 
fulfilled,  while  Calvin  made  no  call  for  extended  missionary  work. 
But  the  Spirit  of  God  was  at  work  with  men,  the  issue  of  which  was 
the  Pietistic  movement  in  Germany.  In  this  movement  began  the 
missionary  activity  anew.  Ziegenbalg,  in  1706,  was  sent  from 
Copenhagen  to  India;  Schwartz,  born  in  the  same  year  as  Otter- 
bein,  was  sent  out  from  Germany  in  1750;  England  was  aroused, 
and  Carey  began  his  work  in  1793 ;  while  Otterbein  came  to  Amer- 
ica and  founded  this  great  denomination  whose  achievements  at 
home  and  abroad  are  a  matter  of  just  pride. 

America,  however,  began  her  missionary  work  at  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century  under  the  splendid  leadership  of  S.  J. 
Mills.  This  movement  began  in  the  Haystack  Meeting  at  Williams 
College,  issuing  in  the  formation  of  the  American  Board  of  For- 
eign Missions  in  1810.  This  board  has  sent  out  since  then,  three 
thousand  missionaries  and  now  raises  one  million  dollars  yearly 
tor  this  work.  The  great  home  missionary  societies  have  done  a 
marvelous  work  in  America.  But  an  appalling  need  still  faces  our 
forces  within  our  borders. 

PRESENT    EXTENDED    SOVEREIGNTY    OF    JESUS    CHRIST 

As  evidence  of  the  recognition  of  Christ's  lordship  are  the 
numerous  and  powerful  organizations  of  the  last  century,  beginning 
with  the  Y,  M.  C.  A.,  organized  under  Sir  George  Williams  in  1844, 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  27 

and  issuing  in  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation  in  1895. 
Thus  were  the  Christian  young  men  enhsted  for  the  making  of 
Christian  manhood.  In  1881  began  the  movement  for  the  training 
of  the  young  people  of  the  church  in  Christian  service,  and  now 
the  Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.  encircles  the  globe  and  numbers  four  millions. 
In  1886  began  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  the  enlisting 
of  the  college  men,  and  through  them  the  whole  church,  in  mission- 
ary work.  Their  recent  convention  at  Kansas  City  had  seven 
thousand  delegates.  At  another  prayer-meeting,  a  hundred  years 
after  the  Haystack  Meeting,  began  the  Layman's  Missionary  ]\Iove- 
ment,  which  has  wrought  and  is  working  marvelous  changes  in 
Christian  thinking  and  giving.  All  of  these  organizations  have  been 
called  into  being  through  the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  final  conquest  of 
the  world. 

THE    UNFINISHED   TASK 

The  work  yet  to  be  done  would  dismay  us  were  we  not  encour- 
aged by  the  victories  of  the  past  and  the  promises  of  God.  Africa's 
millions  are  a  mighty  problem ;  the  unevangelized  of  Asia  cause  us 
restless  nights ;  Afghanistan  and  Thibet  are  practically  untouched 
fields ;  in  our  own  land,  but  four  States  have  less  than  sixty  per 
cent,  unchurched ;  thirty-three  have  over  sixty  per  cent.,  while 
seven  have  over  seventy  per  cent.  This  unfinished  task  calls  for  a 
united  campaign.  The  splendid  progress  of  the  past,  the  present 
widespread  inculcation  of  Christ's  ideals,  the  value  of  one  hundred 
years  of  experience,  and  the  promise  of  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
Christianity,  call  us  hopefully  and  energetically  into  an  enthusiastic 
campaign  for  the  finishing  of  the  task.  The  sons  of  Otterbein  must 
have  their  share  in  the  victorv.    ''We  can  do  it,  and  we  will." 


UNMATCHED  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THIS  HOUR 


THE  CALL  OF  AMERICA 

BY  JOSEPH  ERNEST  MCAFEE 

The  United  States  is  the  richest  nation  on  earth.  Our  aggre- 
gate national  wealth  is  one  hundred  and  forty  billions  of  dollars, 
which  is  nearly  double  that  of  Great  Britain,  the  next  wealthiest 
nation.  Mr.  Bryce  says  that  the  Republic  is  as  wealthy  as  any  two 
of  the  greatest  European  nations.  Each  man,  woman,  and  child  of 
us,  infant  and  patriarch,  owns  fourteen  or  fifteen  hundred  dollars, 
though  some  may  be  painfully  conscious  that  they  have  not  entered 
into  full  proprietorship.  We  dig  out  of  the  ground  in  the  year  ten 
billions  of  dollars  in  food  supplies,  and  leave  the  soil  richer  for  its 
larger  product  the  succeeding  year.  Our  mines  produce  two  bil- 
lions of  dollars  each  year.  Our  manufactures  have  reached  a  yearly 
output  of  thirty  billions.  Our  imports  from  abroad  have  passed 
an  annual  billion  and  a  half.  Our  exports  amount  to  considerably 
more  than  two  billions.  Thus  our  commerce  with  other  nations 
shows  us  more  than  five  hundred  millions  of  dollars  of  balance  in 
the  year  on  the  right  side  of  the  ledger,  or  did  so  before  the  recent 
tariff  changes.  The  most  of  this  wealth  and  wealth-producing  ma- 
chinery has  been  accumulated  by  a  single  generation.  Indeed,  one 
of  our  most  expert  jugglers  of  figures  declares  that  "during  the  first 
two  years  of  this  century  we  saved  two  thousand  million  dollars 
7nore  than  all  the  wealth  that  had  been  accumulated  in  this  country 
from  the  first  settlement  down  to  1850 — nearly  two  and  a  half  cen- 
turies." He  further  shows  that  that  two  years'  surplus,  which 
amounted  to  nine  billions,  is  a  clean  credit  item,  over  and  above 
current  expenditures  made  upon  a  scale  of  extravagance  which 
would  have  been  the  despair  of  kings  and  emperors  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago.  All  the  fortune  of  Croesus  would  not  furnish 
pin  money  for  any  one  of  a  dozen  American  heiresses.  The  other 
day  a  woman  spent  a  thousand  dollars  for  a  single  hat  pin ;  twenty 

28 


^  Our  Men  and  Their  Task  29 

thousand  dollars  was  paid  for  a  liat,  and  the  infamy  of  the  trans- 
action is  that  it  was  a  man's  hat.  If  the  facts  were  all  in,  however, 
I  venture  it  would  appear  that  his  wife  bought  it  for  him — as  some 
wives  insist  upon  doing. 

THE  GREATEST  DOMAIN  ON  THE  GLOBE. 

The  United  States  holds  the  most  serviceable  and  accessible 
domain  in  the  world.  The  world's  vacant  spaces  are  still  large.  But 
the  sort  of  civilization  and  the  branches  of  the  race  which  maintain 
the  leadership  of  the  world  seek  the  temperate  zone.  Vacant  spaces 
are  here  greatly  reduced.  The  equator  cuts  immediately  through 
the  fat  portions  of  both  South  America  and  Africa,  with  their  large, 
unoccupied  territory.  Our  kind  of  people  do  not  fancy  entangling 
alliances  with  equators.  The  new  fields  of  Canada  and  Siberia  lie 
for  the  most  part  in  the  arctics  and  sub-arctics.  Such  is  no  more 
to  our  taste.  The  American  west  and  Australia  alone  ofifer  wide 
opportunity  for  the  expansion  of  the  present  dominant  civilization 
in  the  Temperate  Zone,  and  Australia  finds  its  isolation  a  persistent 
handicap  to  its  progress.  It  is  separated  from  all  other  lands  by 
wide  seas,  and  lies  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere,  whereas  the  world's 
great  land  areas  and  its  dominant  civilization  lie  in  the  Northern 
Hemisphere.  With  all  of  the  ardent  promotion  of  Australia  by  col- 
onization enterprises  the  entire  population  is  to-day  less  than  that 
of  the  American  colonies  at  the  time  of  their  revolt  from  Great 
Britain.  During  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  years  since  the 
Revolution,  the  American  population  has  multiplied  twentyfold  and 
unclaimed  land  resources  yet  remain  which  will  make  possible  within 
the  life  of  a  few  generations  a  population  comparable  to  that  of  the 
entire  globe  to-day. 

THE  MOST  VIGOROUS  PEOPLE  IN  THE  WORLD 

The  United  States  claims  the  most  vigorous  people  in  the 
world.  No  other  land  is  developing  under  anything  like  the  condi- 
tions to  promise  economic  achievement.  The  vigor  of  all  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth  is  being  drained  off  to  pour  into  our  population. 
Our  immigration  is  automatically  selected  for  its  vitality  and  push. 
All  come  with  the  passion  for  getting  on  in  the  world  dominating 
every  fibre  and  impulse  of  their  being.  The  most  aggressive  race 
has  always  been  a  blend  of  races.    The  x\merican  population  is  the 


30  Our  Men  and  Tlie'v  Tad; 

universal  blend.  It  is  an  epitome  of  the  human  race.  Our  cosmo- 
politan character  insures  transcendent  vigor  for  generations  to  come, 
even  though  we  continue  to  commit  the  folly  and  wickedness  of 
white  slavery,  tenement  congestion,  and  rural  neglect — all  of  which 
may  the  Lord  forbid ! 

MECHANICAL   ACPIIEVEMENT   AND   ECONOMICAL   OUTPUT 

Not  less  than  ten  thousand  of  our  keenest  already  devote  their 
entire  time  and  talent  to  devising  new  methods  and  machines  for 
increasing  economic  output  or  for  improving  the  old.  Invention  is 
an  American  profession.  In  every  fully  equipped  university,  the 
engineering  school  is  turning  out  the  largest  classes,  each  class  hav- 
ing spent  more  time  and  labor  upon  its  specialty  and  having  gone 
deeper  into  its  science  than  did  its  predecessor,  \^'e  are  already 
far  in  the  lead  of  the  nations  of  the  earth  in  mechanical  achieve- 
ments. The  name  "American"  is  the  synonym  for  inventive  genius. 
The  results  so  far  have  come  of  a  native  bent  and  have  been  almost 
fortuitous.  What  will  be  the  product  of  the  generation  now  emerg- 
ing from  our  countless  technical  schools  who  begin  with  their  in- 
tricate arts  where  their  predecessors  left  off,  and  who  supplement 
an  even  greater  native  genius  with  a  scientific  equipment  of  which 
their  predecessors  never  even  dreamed? 

Having  said  so  much,  I  must  pause  to  tell  you  what  it  is  all 
about.  I  have  reminded  you  of  our  natural  and  vital  eminence.  We 
are  the  richest  nation,  we  have  the  largest  stores  of  available,  un- 
claimed resource,  and  we  have  incomparably  the  largest  fund  of  the 
vital  elements  needed  for  the  production  of  that  complicated  mech- 
anism known  as  civilization. 

Yet  all  this  only  furnishes  the  sounding  board  from  which  the 
call  to  high  and  holy  purposes  rings  out  the  louder.  Our  spiritual 
ideals — what  of  them?  And  our  spiritual  achievements?  Finally, 
will  it  not  appear  that  the  call  of  America  is  the  world  call? 

America's  fundamental  ideals 

Our  two  fundamental  ideals  are,  first,  to  make  material  values 
serve  spiritual  ends,  and,  second,  to  vindicate  democracy.  The 
American  passion  is  money.  The  American  thinks  money  and  talks 
money  morning,  noon,  and  night ;  at  his  business,  during  recreation 
hours,  lounging  in  his  home.     He  eats  money,  dreams  of  money  in 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  31 

his  sleep,  wakes  to  pursue  money.  The  caricature  of  the  .\merican 
the  world  over  is  a  money  maniac.  At  the  loveliest  he  is  lean  and 
lank  Uncle  Sam,  his  picturesque  clothes  plastered  over  with  dollar 
marks ;  at  the  basest  he  is  the  great  American  hog  wallowing  in  a 
swill  which  the  cartoonist  makes  to  reek  with  money.  Ask  the 
man  of  another  nation  to  paint  the  American.  His  first  outline 
shows  the  curves  of  the  dollar  mark ;  if  he  is  an  ignorant,  gullable 
peasant  of  the  European  or  Asiatic  hinterland,  the  American  is  a 
gilded  prince,  revelling  in  an  inexhaustible  El  Dorado ;  if  he  is  a 
cynic  whose  own  passion  for  gold  has  worn  itself  dull  upon  the 
adamant  of  old-world  poverty,  he  sneers  at  the  fresh  and  naive 
money  greed  for  which  the  American  is  envied  or  worshiped  or 
despised  the  world  'round. 

Caricature  is  often  the  strictest  truth.  However  gross  may  be 
certain  features  of  this  picture,  the  portrait  is  essentially  true  to 
life.  And  the  test  of  the  vitality  of  our  spiritual  forces  will  be 
their  attitude  toward  this  essential  fact.  What  are  our  spiritual  agen- 
cies going  to  do  about  and  to  do  with  the  dominant  money  passion 
of  Americanism?  Deny  the  fact?  Declare  that  the  American  is 
maligned,  fly  into  a  rage  because  we  are  caricatured?  Let  us  not 
be  foolish,  nor  permit  a  deficient  sense  of  humor  to  betray  us  into 
evading  the  palpable  truth.  Shall  the  church,  then,  fawn  upon  the 
rich,  and  justify  the  malignant  charge  that  plutocracy  has  bought 
it  up,  body  and  soul  ?  I  need  not  ask ;  servile  as  some  may  have 
grown  under  the  guise  of  religion,  the  power  to  protest  against  evil 
has  not  been  lost  to  the  church.  Shall  we  fly  to  the  other  extreme 
and  lash  our  spirits  into  a  fury  over  the  debasing  materialism  of  our 
age  and  of  our  people,  preach  long  and  petulant  sermons  against 
filthy  lucre — just  after  we  have  sent  the  deacons  about  among  the 
pews  to  collect  the  odds  and  ends  of  loose  change  in  the  pockets  of 
Sunday  clothes?  Nothing  more  travesties  religion  and  destroys  its 
quickening  effects  upon  the  American  soul  than  our  fierce,  homiletic 
screeds  against  materialism.  All  the  aberrations  of  our  dull  spiritual 
insights,  all  the  disappointments  of  our  blundering  ministry  in  hal- 
lowed things,  we  sometimes  lump  into  one  mad  fling  and  let  fly  at 
materialism.  People  will  not  listen  to  our  preaching;  they  will  not 
give  their  money  to  further  our  pet  church  projects ;  they  would 
rather  go  to  the  nickelodeon  than  to  our  prayer-meetings — so,  the 
devil  of  indifference  and  materialism  take  them !     They  are  past 


32  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

reclaim.     They  are  sodden  in  their  frivolous  and  materialistic  in- 
iquity. 

Now !  now !  now !  Could  we  more  openly  proclaim  our  spirit- 
ual inefficiency  and  blindness?  With  all  of  its  masterfulness  in  the 
realm  of  the  material  our  civilization  is  not  materialistic.  Systems 
of  materialistic  philosophy  gain  no  substantial  grip  upon  our  people's 
souls ;  they  never  have  and  they  show  less  tendency  to  do  so  to-day 
than  ever.  On  the  contrary  the  shining  mark  of  our  American 
civilization  is  its  ardent  zeal  and  its  advancing  success  in  making 
material  forces  express  spiritual  values.  There  are  relatively  fewer 
misers  in  America  to-day  than  there  are  or  have  been  anywhere  in 
the  world  at  any  time.  If  our  people  are  great  money-makers,  they 
are  also  great  mone)^-spenders — sometimes,  alas,  even  greater  spend- 
ers than  makers.  What  our  preaching  denounces  as  frivolity  and 
engrossment  in  material  concerns  is  often  the  passionate  pursuit 
of  spiritual  realities,  and  the  pursuit  seems  gross  only  because  the 
spiritual  passion  is  not  recognized  and  intelligently  directed  by 
those  agencies  whose  first  obligation  is  its  direction. 

SPIRITUALIZE  THE  AMERICAN    PASSION    FOR   MONEY 

Our  spiritual  energies  should  be  bent  upon  the  glorification  of 
this  dominant,  American  passion.  It  is  essentially  holy.  It  should 
be  hallowed.  Our  material  triumphs  should  be  turned  consciously 
and  intelligently  to  spiritual  account.  The  American  people  are 
embarked  upon  a  program  which  can  properly  end  only  in  the  ob- 
literation of  the  wicked  and  irrational  antagonism  of  the  material 
and  the  spiritual.  Least  of  all  should  religion  be  made  party  to 
perpetuating  that  antagonism.  God  Almighty  never  fixed  a  chasm 
between  the  material  and  the  spiritual.  He  placed  them  in  one 
realm.  What  God  has  joined  together,  let  not  blundering,  human 
doctrine  rend  asunder.  The  American  church  has  been  given  a 
message  which  should  train  all  the  tremendous  material  forces  of 
our  American  civilization  upon  the  high  spiritual  task  of  ushering 
our  society  into  the  very  kingdom  of  heaven,  of  making  our  accu- 
mulating wealth  the  minister  of  universal  joy  and  wellbeing.  That 
is  our  triumphant  faith:  the  ministry  of  salvation  to  all  the  people 
here  and  now,  in  ever  enlarging  measure,  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
verily  brought  to  pass  here  upon  the  earth. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  33 

THE   VINDICATION    OF  DEMOCRACY. 

I  defined  our  other  American  ideal  to  be  the  vindication  of 
democracy.  It  is  thus  that  we  shall  bring  to  the  flower  the  spirit- 
ualization  of  the  material.  Democracy  is  our  business.  No  true 
American  mistakes  that  fact.  We  are  the  most  conspicuous  and 
determined  champions  of  democracy  in  the  world.  Where  the  fa- 
thers dared  with  a  large  faith,  succeeding  generations  of  sons  have 
followed  with  an  even  stouter  determination.  Democracy  is  our 
birthright  and  our  very  religion.  That  is  not  a  figure  of  speech. 
Democracy  is  wrought  into  the  fabric  of  our  religion.  Churches 
which  enthrone  and  embody  absolutism  can  never  thrive  in  the 
American  commonwealth.  No  forcing  can  make  them  grow  health- 
ily. This  people  can  no  more  tolerate  a  pope  despot  than  they  can 
or  will  a  king  despot.  A  doctrine  of  religion,  if  the  religion  is  gen- 
uine, must  work  itself  out  in  every  expression  of  our  individual  and 
corporate  life. 

It  requires  no  argument  to  show  any  thoughtful  American 
where  our  democracy  to-day  is  put  to  its  test.  It  is  in  this  very 
realm,  where  the  glory  of  our  achievements  shines  the  brightest. 
We  have  yet  to  achieve  the  democracy  of  wealth.  The  democratiza- 
tion of  the  industrial  order  is  the  first  obligation  of  every  man  and 
every  institution  in  our  life.  Spiritual  agencies  cannot  thrust  it 
aside  as  a  purely  economic  concern.  The  establishment  of  democ- 
racy in  the  economic  realm  is  our  first  spiritual  obligation.  This  is 
a  part  of  the  necessary  reconciliation  of  the  material  and  the  spirit- 
ual. Lords  and  autocrats  of  wealth  must  be  permitted  no  more  than 
despotic  kings  and  popes  in  the  civic  and  ecclesiastical  realms.  Upon 
the  free  and  worthy  reign  of  democracy  in  American  industry  hang 
to-day  every  hope  and  prerogative  of  our  civilization.  This  must 
be  accepted  as  the  truism  of  state  and  church. 

I  am  not  talking  politics,  not  mere  politics.  No  one  here  knows 
what  my  politics  are.  I  vote  in  New  York.  I  may  be  a  Tammany 
Democrat  for  aught  you  know — though  Tammany  Democrats  do  not 
ordinarily  wear  this  sort  of  a  smile  since  the  last  election.  This  is 
not  the  issue  of  any  one  political  party  or  of  any  one  political 
theory ;  it  is  the  truism  of  current  American  thought  and  endeavor. 
We  are  still  at  the  business  to  which  the  fathers  addressed  them- 
selves and  which  they  delegated  to  us :  the  glad  compulsion  is  upon 


34  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

us  to  vindicate  democracy,  to  make  it  an  all-encompassing  reality, 
to  show  its  sufficiency  as  a  system  of  society,  to  demonstrate  its  holi- 
ness as  a  religious  doctrine  and  precept.  The  issue  cannot  be  met 
by  malice  or  by  neglect,  by  pitting  class  against  class  in  irrecon- 
ciliable  warfare,  nor  by  glazing  over  the  shocking  injustices  of  the 
present  industrial  disorder.  The  socialists  are  not  going  to  settle 
this  question,  the  party  of  the  administration  will  not  settle  it,  the 
party  of  the  opposition  will  not  settle  or  unsettle  it.  It  is  not  the 
question  of  any  party  or  set.  It  is  the  question  of  all  of  us,  and 
when  settled  will  be  settled  by  all  of  us.  It  is  alien  to  no  man  or 
institution.  The  church  must  preach  and  apply  a  doctrine  which 
will  meet  these  issues.  The  state  and  every  organization  of  our 
social  life  must  embody  a  genuine  and  thorough  democracy. 

The  arena  in  which  these  issues  are  at  play  compasses  our 
whole  national  life.  It  is  not  merely  the  question  of  whether  the 
railroads  are  justly  and  wisely  handled,  nor  whether  the  manufac- 
ture of  phosphorous  matches  will  be  permitted  to  eat  away  the 
organs  of  the  workers,  nor  whether  cotton  mills  shall  snuff  out  the 
lives  of  little  children,  nor  whether  boys  shall  be  stunted  and  man- 
gled upon  the  coal  breakers,  nor  whether  this  industry  or  that  is 
paying  a  living  wage.  The  issue  has  no  one  exclusive  phase.  It  is 
finally  and  comprehensively  the  question  as  to  whether  we  are  to  suc- 
ceed in  the  supremely  important  task  of  spiritualizing  the  economic 
order  until  it  shall  embody  a  genuine  democracy,  an  essential  broth- 
erhood of  men,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth. 

America's  world  mission. 

And  because  this  is  true,  the  issue  is,  of  course,  larger  than  our 
national  life.  This  is  a  world  call.  We  are  assigned  a  world  mis- 
sion. And  the  world  task  is  defined  in  precisely  the  same  terms. 
It  is  different  from,  and  I  think,  larger  than  the  task  we  commonly 
define  as  the  foreign  mission  enterprise  of  the  church.  It  is  dif- 
ferent in  the  degree  in  which  the  whole  organic  life  of  society  is  dif- 
ferent from  the  single  institution  known  as  the  church,  and  it  is 
larger  in  proportion  as  our  corporate  life  is  larger  than  the  indi- 
vidual life.  The  task  of  the  church  here  in  America  thus  takes  on 
a  distinct  world  phase,  and  gains  the  compulsion  of  a  world  motive 
as  much  more  imperative  than  claiming  church  members  out  of 
massed  populations  as  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth  is  a  more 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  35 

imperious  ideal  than  a  scheme  of  individual  salvation  which  plucks 
brands  from  the  burnin*;"  and  leaves  the  conflagration  to  rage  on. 
This  American  world  call  contemplates  making  the  kingdoms  of  this 
zvorld  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ.  That  old  ideal  is 
not  played  with  as  a  pleasant  figure  of  speech,  but  is  intelligently 
embodied  in  a  program.. 

The  method  of  this  world  program  is  that  of  immediacy,  the 
corporate  method.  It  does  not  put  its  final  dependence  upon  the 
sending  of  individuals  here  and  there  to  preach  a  doctrine.  It  util- 
izes and  directs  the  tremendous  impacts  of  our  national  life  in  the 
fulfillment  of  the  world  mission.  It  does  not  merely  present  a  theory 
of  social  regeneration :  it  insists  upon  a  demonstration  of  regener- 
ated society  as  the  only  conclusive  gospel.  The  individual  method, 
Ihe  sending  of  individuals  to  present  a  theory  shows  its  limitations 
as  national  contacts  grow  more  intimate,  and  the  corporate  method 
becomes  ever  more  imperative  to  an  effective  world  mission.  An 
American  foreign  mission  of  the  churches  cannot  make  head 
against  the  scandal  of  a  depraved  American  society  and  a  consci- 
enceless American  commerce.  American  churches  cannot  segregate 
themselves,  and  successfully  preach  a  gospel  which  American  civil- 
ization does  not  practice.  Though  they  send  their  emissaries  to  the 
uttermost  corners  of  the  earth,  even  there  will  a  home  civilization 
which  belies  their  doctrines,  find  them  out  and  frustrate  their  pro- 
fession. If  pagan  politics  are  less  corrupt  than  Christian,  the  in- 
dividual Christian  missionary  preaches  in  shame  of  face  if  he  dare 
preach  at  all.  If  the  introduction  of  Christian  civilization  into 
Japan  has  carried  with  it  a  child  labor  system  where  it  did  not  be- 
fore exist,  with  what  faltering  tongue  must  the  individual  American 
missionary  in  Japan  preach  a  doctrine  advocated  to  banish  it?  He 
is  himself  the  representative  of  a  civilization  which  still  harbors 
that  curse.  The  incongruity  of  rum  and  missionaries  on  the  same 
ship,  bound  for  Africa,  has  long  been  the  scandal  of  Christendom. 
Every  throb  of  the  American  heart  sends  out  a  new  yearning  toward 
the  new  republic  of  China.  But  who  can  preach  a  gospel  which 
saves  republics  ?  An  individual,  two  of  them,  ten  thousand  of  them, 
proclaiming  their  doctrine  as  individuals?  None  but  a  saved  re- 
public can  finally  preach  that  gospel.  Only  the  voice  of  our  whole 
society  speaking  as  a  whole  can  find  an  eloquence  able  to  make  that 
message  convincing. 


36  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN  IN   THE  AMERICAN  REPUBLIC 

Our  corporate  life,  our  whole  society  must  speak  the  final 
and  convincing  message  of  our  gospel.  By  vitalizing  American 
civilization  the  American  church  may  shape  an  instrument  of  spir- 
itual conquest  immeasurably  more  potent  than  it  itself  can  ever 
prove.  In  redeeming  our  society,  we  are  proclaiming  a  message  of 
redemption  more  eloquent  than  any  number  of  individual  emis- 
saries can  convey,  let  them  be  ever  so  numerous  and  ever  so  elo- 
quent. A  failing  American  church  may  be  only  deceiving  itself  by 
zeal  in  an  individualistic  missionary  propaganda.  If  the  American 
church  would  succeed  in  its  world  task  it  must  see  that  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  set  up  in  the  American  Republic.  How  far  the  church 
is  succeeding  in  this  sublime  mission — ah,  what  our  eyes  behold, 
what  our  ears  hear,  what  fills  our  nostrils,  are  these  the  sights  and 
sounds  and  odors  of  heaven?  But  of  what  should  be  the  method 
and  aim  of  the  church's  endeavor  there  can  be  no  final  question. 
The  logic  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  too  simple  and  plain  for  mis- 
understanding. ''Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth," 
on  earth. 

Not  the  niggardly  sums  spared  from  the  overflow  of  prosperity 
are  to  constitute  our  missionary  budget.  Here  is  call  for  the  rich- 
est nation  on  earth  to  devote  its  all  to  a  demonstration  of  the  saved 
and  saving  community.  This  is  putting  the  missionary  enterprise 
upon  a  funded  basis  of  the  one  hundred  and  forty  billions  of  dol- 
lars of  to-day's  national  wealth,  and  upon  the  incalculable  accretions 
of  the  years  and  centuries  to  come.  The  fifty  billions  of  money  em- 
ployed in  barter  must  become  our  annual  missionary  budget.  Our 
active  missionary  force  should  embrace  our  one  hundred  millions  of 
the  most  aggressive  element  in  the  human  race.  The  missionary 
call  of  America  is  not  less  vocal  than  this. 


THE  CHALLENGE  OF  AN  AWAKENED  WORLD 

BY  CYRUS  J.  KEPHART 

There  are  several  avenues  of  approach  to  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  the  church's  obligation  and  duty.  It  may  be  approached, 
and  should  be,  first,  from  the  side  of  the  authority  of  Him  who 
imposes  the  obligation  and  prescribes  the  duty;  second,  from  the 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  37 

side  of  human  need ;  and,  third,  from  the  side  of  opportunity — which 
means  the  side  of  open  doors.  I  am  glad  that  it  is  my  privilege  to 
speak  to  you  upon  this  third  phase  of  the  subject,  for  this  is  indeed 
an  encouraging  side.  True,  the  commission  of  Jesus  Christ  should 
itself  give  encouragement;  for  surely  the  mighty  God  is  able  to 
bring  to  successful  completion  the  task  that  he  has  undertaken,  how- 
ever immeasurable  its  magnitude  may  be.  Surely  **He  will  not 
fail  nor  be  discouraged."  But  the  encouragement  from  this  side 
seems  to  some  to  be  somewhat  theoretical  and  visionary,  so  that  men 
have  seemed  to  try  to  discover  or  invent  some  interpretation  of  the 
divine  purpose  and  promise  that  would  fit  the  case  without  claim- 
ing the  full  realization  of  all  that  the  divine  assurances  seem  to 
indicate. 

But  when  doors  swing  open,  when  ripe  fields  of  golden  oppor- 
tunity present,  when  Ethiopia,  and  China,  and  Japan,  and  the  isles 
of  the  sea  stretch  forth  their  hands  to  God,  then  comes  quickening 
of  faith ;  then  springs  up  renewal  of  courage,  enlarging  of  strength, 
stimulating  of  purpose  to  go  forward  however  great  the  task,  how- 
ever toilsome  the  duty. 

*'0'er  the  hills  the  dawn  is  breaking, 

Golden  day  is  drawing  near, 
See,  the  sons  of  earth  are  waking. 

Forward  then,  and  do  not  fear." 

THIS  AGE  THE  GREATEST  AGE 

Dr.  Campbell  Morgan  said  recently  in  Pittsburgh,  that  there 
is  probably  good  reason  for  men  of  every  age  to  say  that  theirs  is 
the  greatest,  perhaps  the  best  age  the  world  has  ever  seen.  No 
doubt  the  Pharaohs  of  Egypt,  as  they  looked  upon  the  monumental 
piles  that  they  had  constructed  to  bear  witness  to  Egypt's  greatness, 
said  that  theirs  was  the  greatest  and  best  age  that  the  world  had 
ever  seen.  And,  measured  by  their  standards  of  excellency  and 
in  the  period  in  which  they  lived,  this  probably  may  have  been  true. 
No  doubt  the  students  of  Plato  and  of  Socrates,  as  they  sat  in  the 
academy  or  followed  in  the  market  place,  said  the  same,  and  prob- 
ably with  equally  good  reason. 

But  if  the  merit  of  an  age  is  to  be  measured  by  its  provisions 
for  human  betterment,  and  by  the  extent  of  opportunity  for  the  ap- 
plication of  those  provisions,  then  surely  we,  in  the  twentieth  cen- 


38  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

tury,  have  reason  above  all  others  for  claiming  that  this  is  the  great- 
est and  best  era  the  race  of  humankind  has  ever  seen. 

And  when  I  say  this,  I  mean  by  provisions  for  human  better- 
ment primarily  one — the  Gospel,  expressive  of  the  living  presence 
of  the  ever  blessed  Son  of  God,  and  secondarily  the  various  forms 
and  phases  of  elevating  institutions  that  are  themselves  the  direct 
product  of  fruitage  of  the  gospel. 

I  cannot  take  time  here  to  analyze  and  show  the  superiority 
of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  am  speaking  to  Christian  men  who 
accept  this  without  question.  It  is  mine,  however,  to  speak  of  the 
superiority  of  our  age,  and  of  the  greatness  of  our  obligation,  as 
measured  by  the  opportunities  presented  for  the  effective  promulga- 
tion of  the  gospel. 

DOORS  THAT   HAVE  OPENED   IN    HALF   A  CENTURY 

The  past  fifty  years  have  effected  changes  in  world  conditions 
such  as  to  place  before  the  church  of  Jesus  Qirist  and  before  every 
organic  division  of  it,  such  opportunities  for  world  conquest  as 
multiply  its  obligations  many  fold.  Not  that  Jesus  Christ  is  more 
concerned  to-day  than  he  was  fifty  years  ago;  but  that  the  oppor- 
tunities for  successful  achievement  are  a  thousandfold  greater  than 
they  were  fifty  years  ago,  so  that  now  tasks  may  be  accomplished 
in  a  day  that  then  would  have  taken  years  of  only  partially  success- 
ful effort. 

But  little  more  than  fifty  years  ago  Japan  was  a  sealed  nation, 
with  imperial  edicts  of  prohibition  against  Christian  effort  posted 
on  all  her  principal  highways.  To-day,  not  only  are  these  prohi- 
bitions forty  years  in  the  past,  but  Japan  now  gladly  welcomes  nine 
hundred  Christian  missionaries ;  her  Sunday  schools  enroll  one  hun- 
dred thousand  pupils ;  she  has  Bibles  by  the  millions,  and  with  her 
modern  system  of  education,  and  her  aggressive,  commercial  spirit, 
she  is  reckoned  as  one  of  the  most  progressive  of  modern  nations, 
and  presents  a  field  for  and  a  call  to  missionary  effort  of  unmeas- 
ured opportunities  and  possibilites.  Dr.  John  R.  J\Iott,  in  speaking 
of  his  recent  visit  to  Japan  tells  us  of  the  marvelous  awakening  of 
students  of  the  Imperial  University  and  elsewhere,  and  says,  "This 
is  a  wonderful  moment  in  Japan ;  the  educated  classes  are  as  ac- 
cessible as  they  ever  were,  while  the  illiterate  classes  are  more 
accessible  than  ever."     "Without  doubt,"  savs  he,  "there  has  come 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  39 

another  of  those  wonderful  days  of  God's  visitation.  He  is  visiting 
Japan  now." 

Japan,  with  her  decrepit  pagan  religions ;  Japan,  with  her  ma- 
terialistic tendencies  and  her  drift  toward  unbelief ;  Japan,  with  her 
awful  social  impurity,  endorsed  to  some  degree  by  her  native  reli- 
gions— Japan  is  in  awful  need  of  the  gospel. 

But  Japan  with  her  ports  wide  open ;  Japan  with  her  aggressive 
spirit  of  industrial  and  commercial  enterprise ;  Japan  with  her  com- 
pulsory system  of  education ;  Japan  with  her  twenty  thousand  col- 
lege and  university  students,  her  two  hundred  thousand  middle- 
school  students,  her  fifty  thousand  high-school  girls ;  Japan  with  her 
educated  and  her  uneducated  classes  alike  open  to  receive  the  gospel 
— Japan  presents  a  challenge  to  heroic  devotion  and  self-sacrifice 
that  should  stir  the  heart  of  the  most  indifferent  follower  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

If  we  turn  to  China,  what  less  do  we  see  ?  China,  for  centuries 
the  sleeping  giant;  China,  with  her  face  for  ages  turned  to  the  past; 
China,  for  centuries  worshipping  a  golden  age  long  past,  and  mourn- 
ing a  future  without  hope !  But  the  sleeping  giant  has  felt  the  im- 
pulse and  the  thrill  of  a  new  life,  and  is  awakening.  China  is  turn- 
ing her  face  to  the  future,  with  the  hope  that  there  may  be  for  her 
yet  another  golden  age.  Qiina  may  yet,  as  Napoleon  said,  "move 
the  world."  What  more  important  than  that  her  life  shall  be 
changed,  so  that  when  she  moves,  it  shall  be  in  the  right  direction? 

Reflecting  upon  the  tragic  scenes  of  the  Boxer  War ;  remem- 
bering the  stolid  and  selfish  despotism  that  has  ruled  China  for 
centuries — with  these  visions  before  you,  turn  to  read  the  story  of 
the  recent  revolution,  which  promises  at  least  to  transform  China 
from  a  narrow  and  oppressive  despotism  to  a  liberal  republic,  with 
religious  liberty  guaranteed,  and  Christianity  given  an  open  door  of 
opportunity ;  observe  the  change  in  her  system  of  education  from 
an  antiquated  devotion  to  the  Confucian  classics  to  a  system  of 
modern,  liberal  culture ;  read  Sherwood  Eddy's  story,  as  he  depicts 
the  growth  of  Christian  influence  until  the  number  of  Protestant 
communicants  has  increased  from  one  in  1814  to  one  hundred  and 
ninety-six  thousand  in  1910;  read  the  marvelous  story  of  Doctor 
Mott's  recent  visit  to  that  great  land,  and  hear  him  tell  of  the  thou- 
sands who  assembled  to  hear  the  story  of  the  Christ,  from  Canton 
to  Manchuria  and  Pekins:;  of  the  Chief   Justice,  the  Minister  of 


40  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

Education,  himself  a  Christian,  and  governors  of  provinces  pre- 
siding at  his  meetings  and  giving  him  welcome  and  assistance,  and 
then  if  possible  contrast  this  condition  to-day  with  that  which  met 
Morrison  when  a  hundred  years  ago  he  first  set  foot  on  China's 
shores,  and  you  will  surely  say,  "a  nation  has  been  born  in  a  day," 
and  the  moment  is  here  for  the  peaceful,  Christian  conquest  of  the 
greatest  of  the  nations. 

Or  turn  to  the  Mohammedan  world,  the  seat  of  what  has 
seemed  to  be  the  strongest  antagonist  and  the  most  dangerous  com- 
petitor of  the  Christian  system,  and  see  there  "what  God  hath 
wrought."  Mohamm.edanism  is  a  system  of  religious  teaching  and 
practice  combined  with  a  despotic  system  of  political  government, 
so  that  the  strength  of  Mohammedanism  has  been  the  sword  of  the 
Turk. 

But  in  the  providence  of  God,  Robert  College  at  Constantinople, 
and  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  at  Beirut  were  opened,  and  be- 
gan to  shed  forth  the  light  of  truth,  with  the  result  that  Turkish  con- 
servatism has  been  forced  to  yield  at  least  a  little  to  modern  en- 
lightenment, and  to-day  as  never  before,  Turkey  is  open  to  Christian 
workers,  and  Christian  truth  is  slowly  taking  root  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people. 

And  now,  marvellous  to  tell,  as  though  God  had  decreed  that 
Mohammedanism  should  be  shorn  of  its  political  support,  the  Mos- 
lem world  is  being  broken  to  pieces  politically.  Mr.  Zwemer  said 
recently  at  Kansas  City,  "The  past  year  has  witnessed  a  series  of 
events  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  Islam.  The  occupation 
of  Morocco ;  the  loss  of  Tripoli ;  the  partition  of  Persia ;  and  the 
disastrous  defeat  of  Turkey  by  the  Balkan  Allies  followed  each 
other  with  startling  rapidity."  The  result  is,  as  Mr.  Zwemer  says, 
"Pan-Islamism  from  a  political  standpoint  is  dead.  The  prestige  of 
Islam  as  a  church  state  is  gone;  no  independent  Moslem  state  ex- 
ists in  Africa." 

I  am  sure  it  cannot  be  difficult  at  all  for  the  Christian  student  of 
events  to  see  in  this  a  providential  preparing  of  the  Mohammedan 
world  for  successful  conquest  by  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  by 
means  of  the  peaceful  message  of  di-vine  love  and  power. 

And  what  shall  I  say  more?  For  the  time  would  fail  me  to 
speak  of  Korea,  the  greatest  of  all  marvels  of  missionary  triumph; 
and  of  India,  and  of  Russia,  and  of  Africa,  and  of  the  islands  of 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  41 

the  sea,  where  by  faith  men  have  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  right- 
eousness, attained  the  fulfillment  of  divine  promises,  stopped  the 
mouths  of  wily  and  of  blatant  objectors,  quenched  the  violence  of 
fires  of  persecution,  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword,  out  of  weakness 
were  made  strong,  put  to  flight  the  armies  of  opposers,  and  have 
efifected  the  permanent  establishing  of  the  church  of  Christ,  until 
indeed  it  may  well  be  said,  speaking  from  the  viewpoint  of  the 
man  of  faith,  "It  is  daybreak  everywhere." 

WHAT  DO  THESE  THINGS  MEAN  ? 

Do  they  mean  that  the  work  has  been  finished  ?  Let  us  beware 
lest  we  even  approach  toward  making  that  mistake.  Let  us  not 
overlook  the  sin,  the  vice,  the  crime,  the  destitution,  the  degrada- 
tion, the  debauchery  that  are  yet  present  in  and  threatening  to  turn 
back  the  hand  upon  the  dial  of  human  progress  in  professedly 
Christian  lands.  Let  us  not  be  deaf  to  the  heart  cry  of  the  millions 
in  our  own  and  in  other  Christian  lands,  as  they  with  groanings  un- 
uttered  plead  for  the  bread  of  life.  Let  us  not  fail  to  see  that  in 
foreign  lands,  just  back  of  these  outposts  of  such  promising  Chris- 
tian achievement,  splendid  testimonies  to  the  efficiency  and  power 
of  the  gospel — let  us  not  forget  that  just  back  of  this,  in  the  unpene- 
trated  darkness  of  pagan  superstition  and  shame,  are  the  unnum- 
bered millions  of  the  sons  of  men,  that  for  liberation  and  for  life 
await  the  coming  of  the  message  and  the  institutions  that  bear  testi- 
mony to  the  life  and  power  of  Jesus  Christ. 

No;  these  things,  these  hopeful  achievements  and  promising 
turnings  in  human  afl^airs,  mean  only  that  the  work  has  been  well 
begun.  The  great  task  is  yet  to  be  done.  They  mean  only  that 
the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  has  in  its  possession  the  message  that 
will  give  life  and  hope,  if  that  m^essage  is  but  published  to  the  race. 
They  mean  that  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  has  the  key,  the  true  and 
only  key,  to  the  storehouse  of  divine  grace — the  storehouse  whose 
supplies  are  adequate  to  supply  the  deepest  need,  not  only  of  Amer- 
ica, not  only  of  Europe,  but  of  all  of  earth's  sorrowing  and  famish- 
ing millions,  and  to  supply  all  their  needs,  and  to  supply  them  abun- 
dantly. "I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life,  and  that  they  might 
have  it  more  abundantly." 

They  mean  that  while  upon  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  rests 
all  the  responsibility  imposed  by  the  command  of  Jesus,  and. while 


42  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

upon  it  rests  all  the  additional  obligation  imposed  by  the  world's 
awful  need,  there  is  upon  it  to-day  as  never  before  the  tremendously 
increased  obligation  imposed  by  the  world-wide,  open  door  of  oppor- 
tunity, such  as  never  appeared  in  the  days  of  Paul,  nor  in  the  days 
of  Otterbein  and  Morrison,  but  vrhich  does  appear  in  these  days  of 
modern  missionary  enterprise. 

AN   AWAKENING    CHURCH    FOR   AN    AWAKENING    WORLD 

It  is  a  greatly  encouraging  fact  that  complementing  this  throw- 
ing open  of  doors,  this  world-wide  awakening,  there  has  come  and 
is  now  in  experience  a  corresponding  awakening  in  the  church — an 
awakening  that  means  both  larger  appreciation  of  opportunity  and 
more  adequate  forces  to  respond  to  the  call  of  duty. 

The  great  Laymen's  Missionary  Campaign  and  the  great  Men 
and  Religion  Movement,  the  latter  the  fruit  of  a  United  Brethren 
mind  and  heart,  coupled  with  great  evangelistic  campaigns,  have 
resulted  in  an  awakening  and  a  marshalling  of  the  manhood  of  the 
church  that  is  to-day  evidencing  itself  in  a  manly  response  to  the 
call  for  Christ  and  of  the  church,  such  as  has  not  been  known  for 
centuries,  thus  giving  to  the  church  a  force  for  aggressive  effort 
that  she  has  never  had  before  in  her  history. 

And  who  that  is  present,  who  that  anywhere  finds  his  heart 
beat  in  sympathy  with  the  purpose  of  Jesus  Christ,  does  not  see  or 
hear  in  all  these  facts  combined,  a  call  to  duty — had  I  not  better 
say,  a  call  to  privilege — such  as  has  never  before  come  to  the 
church  ?  Your  presence  here  in  such  large  numbers,  and  from  such 
great  distances,  is  a  splendid  testimony  to  this  fact. 

I  see  in  the  long-distant  past  a  picture — it  is  Lot,  weeping  over 
the  befated  cities  of  the  plain.  He  has  just  learned  that  for  lack 
of  ten  righteous  men  all  was  lost.  And  now  there  rushes  upon  him 
the  awful  consciousness  of  opportunities  unused !  He  had  lived  in 
Sodom.  Had  he  but  done  his  duty,  he  might  have  led  more  than 
ten  to  righteous  lives.  But  now  all  is  gone.  He  had  his  opportunity, 
but  he  neglected  it ;  and  now,  all — property,  home,  wife,  sons,  the 
cities  entire — are  lost !  To  Lot  the  smoke  of  burning  Sodom  must 
have  spelled,  "Opportimities  unused!"  "Cities  lost!" 

The  Christian  church  in  every  generation  has  had  opportuni- 
ties greater  than  it  has  used.  And  now  this  generation,  its  ears 
ringing  with  the  call  of  the  waiting  world,  its  eyes  entranced  with 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  43 

opportunities  the  like  of  which  have  never  been  seen  before,  its 
heart  touched  by  the  wail  of  human  grief  as  never  before ;  will  it 
respond,  or  will  it,  like  broken-hearted  Lot,  look  back  and  mourn 
privileges  unused,  open  doors  unentered,  while  the  race  moves  on, 
suffering  the  awful  effects  of  sin  from  which  it  can  escape  only  as 
the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  does  its  duty  in  giving  to  men  the  mes- 
sage of  life.  1  1  1  c 
No ;  the  church  will  not  lag.  It  will  arouse  to  the  splendor  ot 
its  privileges.  It  will  go  forward,  conquering  and  to  conquer,  until, 
indeed,  "the  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  shall  be  glad,  and  the 
desert  shall  blossom  as  the  rose,"  until  ''every  valley  shall  be  ex- 
alted and  every  hill  shall  be  made  low,  and  the  crooked  shall  be 
made  straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain,  and  the  glory  ot  the  Lord 
shall  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh  shall  see  it  together;  for  the  mouth 
of  Jehovah  hath  spoken  it." 


CO-OPERATIVE    PROTESTANTISINI    IN    THE   TASK   OF 
THE    KINGDOM 

BY  CHARLES  S.    MACFARLAND 

It  becomes,  first  of  all,  my  gracious  duty  and  privilege  to  bring 
to  you  the  greetings  of  the  Christian  men  of  the  other  twenty-nine 
constituent  denominations  of  the  Federal  Council. 

One  of  our  most  startling  of  modern  discoveries  is  that  we  have 
been  so  sadly  and  thoughtlessly  wasteful.  We  have  wasted  our 
mineral  wealth,  squandered  our  forests,  and  have  allowed  the 
mighty  forces  of  our  streams  to  run  out  into  an  un-needing  sea. 
We  have  poisoned,  neglected,  maimed,  and  mangled  by  our  inef- 
ficient speeding  up,  by  our  twelve-hour  days  and  seven-day  weeks. 
While  we  have  wasted  the  forests  and  the  mines,  we  have  also 
wasted,  bv  thousands,  our  human  brothers  in  the  mines,  have  slaugh- 
tered and  despoiled  our  women,  and  have  consumed  our  babes  be- 
yond the  count  of  Herod.  In  our  commercial  development  we 
have  given  over  our  little  children  to  an  industrial  Moloch  with 
outstretched,  iron  arms,  saying.  "Let  little  children  come  unto  me, 
and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  Mammon." 

These  enormous  wastes  have  been  largely  because  of  a  still 
deeper  and  more  serious  prodigality,  the  wanton  dissipation  of  our 


44  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

moral  powers,  our  finer  emotions,  and  our  religious  enthusiasm, 
largely  through  sectarian  divisions,  denominational  rivalries,  and  un- 
restrained caprice,  masking  itself  or  deluding  itself  as  a  religious 
loyalty. 

Let  us  dare  to  face  the  facts.  One  of  our  most  important 
Qiristian  tasks  is  that  of  our  home  missions,  which  is  nothing  less 
than  the  conquest  and  the  moral  development  of  a  new  nation.  This 
work,  however,  the  Protestant  churches  have  recklessly  attempted 
without  serious  forethought  or  prearranged  plan.  And  the  result, 
time  upon  time,  has  been  that,  like  the  intrepid  discoverers  in  the 
Antarctic  seas,  religious  enterprise  has  perished  within  the  reach 
of  plenty ;  just  because  it  was  not  reciprocal  and  social.  Three  years 
ago  the  Federal  Council  investigated  the  State  of  Colorado.  One 
hundred  and  thirty-three  communities  were  found,  ranging  in  pop- 
ulation from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  one  thousand  souls,  without 
Protestant  churches  of  any  kind,  one  hundred  of  them  being  also 
without  a  Roman  Catholic  Church.  And  they  were  places  of  deep 
need  in  rural  and  mining  sections.  In  addition  to  these  there  were 
four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  towns  large  enough  to  have  post- 
offices,  but  without  any  churches,  and  whole  counties  were  discov- 
ered without  any  adequate  religious  service. 

The  seriousness  of  the  other  problem  of  overlapping  is  indi- 
cated by  a  town  of  four  hundred  people  in  the  same  State,  with  four 
churches,  all  supported  by  home  mission  aid,  and  this  but  one  of 
many  like  it. 

The  sad  spectacle  of  social  disorder  and  human  hatred  in  Colo- 
rado at  this  moment,  is  largely  the  result  of  this  disintegration  of 
religious  forces  which  was  predicted  three  years  ago  by  the  Federal 
Council  in  its  printed  message  to  the  churches  of  Colorado  and  of 
the  nation. 

This  investigation  was  followed  by  the  Home  Missions  Council 
in  fifteen  western  States.  In  one  State  seventy-five  thousand  people 
resided  five  miles  or  more  from  a  church.  A  rich  valley  with  a 
population  of  five  thousand,  capable  of  supporting  fifty  thousand 
people,  had  but  one  church.  In  another  State,  fourteen  counties  had 
but  three  permanent  places  in  each  for  worship.  One  county  had 
a  rural  population  of  nine  thousand  with  no  religious  ministry  ex- 
cept that  supplied  by  the  Mormon  hierarchy.    Another,  with  a  rural 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  45 

population  of  eighteen  thousand  had  regular  services  in  only  three 
of  its  school  districts. 

Then,  in  our  foreign  missions,  we  did  not  bring  to  the  infant 
vision  of  the  heathen  a  gospel.  We  brought  gospels.  At  least  so 
it  seemed  to  them.  What  wonder  that  to  the  uncultivated  eyes  and 
ears  of  the  heathen  it  looked,  not  like  the  approach  of  human  love, 
but,  as  it  certainly  did  look  to  them,  like  the  approach  of  those  who 
could  not  truly  love  them,  if,  as  it  seemed,  they  did  not  love  each 
other  ? 

Meanwhile,  the  development  of  a  new  and  complex  social  order 
about  us  was  getting  ready  for  the  call  of  a  persuasive  and  effective 
gospel.  New  foes  were  arising  on  every  hand.  They  were  all 
united,  and  we  found  ourselves  facing  federated  vice,  the  federated 
saloon,  federated  corruption  in  political  life,  federated  human  ex- 
ploitation, and  then  all  these  together  multiplied  in  one  strong  feder- 
ation, the  federation  of  commercialized  injustice,  vice,  and  iniquity. 
All  of  these  were  bound  together  in  a  solemn  league  and  covenant, 
and  the  reason  they  so  confidently  faced  a  derided  church  was  be- 
cause they  knew  they  faced  a  divided  one. 

On  the  one  hand  were  the  federations  of  labor  and  on  the  other 
hand  federations  of  capital,  girding  themselves  for  their  terrific  con- 
flict, waiting  the  voice  w^hicli  should  speak  with  power  and  influence, 
that  should  quell  their  human  hatreds.  They  are  waiting  to-day  in 
West  Virginia,  in  Colorado,  in  Michigan,  where,  we  must  sadly 
admit,  the  voice  of  the  church  has  been  either  unheard  or  absolutely 
disregarded.  Problems  of  social  justice  w^ere  looking  to  us  with 
beseeching  voice,  and  we  found  ourselves  obliged  to  face  them,  or, 
worse  still,  to  shun  them,  with  shame  upon  our  faces  and  with  a 
bewildered  consciousness,  because  we  had  no  common  articulation 
of  a  code  of  spiritual  principles  or  moral  laws.  Our  spiritual  au- 
thority was  not  equal  to  our  human  sympathy,  because  it  was  di- 
vided.    We  spoke  with  many  voices,  but  not  with  a  mighty  voice. 

What  wonder  if  we  have  lost,  not  only  our  Sabbath  as  a  day 
of  worship,  but  our  Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest!  What  wonder  that 
we  have  lost  our  civic  virtue !  Why  are  we  surprised  that  we  have 
lost  not  only  our  temperance  laws,  but  also  our  temperate  ways? 
Why  should  we  be  astonished  that  with  the  loss  of  these  we  have 
also  lost  our  sons  and  filled  our  houses  of  refuge  with  our  daugh- 
ters?   Why  should  we  wonder  that  the  rich  have  left  us  for  their 


46  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

unrestrained,  unhol\  pleasure  and  the  poor  because  we  have  no 
united  sense  and  power  of  social  justice  to  restrain  an  industry  that 
devoured  widows'  houses  and  that  bound  heavy  burdens  grievous 
to  be  borne,  especially  when  this  was  sometimes  done  by  those  who 
for  a  pretense  made  long  prayers  ? 

The  age  became  a  migratory  one.  The  family  left  one  city  for 
another.  It  drifted,  by  the  necessities  of  industry,  from  place  to 
place,  and  because  we  had  no  provision  for  shepherding  the  sheep 
that  left  one  fold  for  another,  they  w^andered  about  just  outside 
some  other  fold. 

In  our  cities,  we  have  to-day  whole  sections  religiously  dying 
and  socially  decaying  because  they  are  without  any  churches,  while 
other  sections  right  beside  them  die  because  they  have  too  many 
churches  to  be  supported.  Effective  distribution  is  as  yet,  in  every 
city,  either  an  undiscovered  art  or  at  best  a  feeble  effort.  The  so- 
called  rural  problem  as  a  social  perplexity  has  arisen  almost  entirely 
from  the  disunity  of  our  religious  forces,  and  we  might  as  well  ad- 
mit it.  In  some  places  the  churches  are  still  dying  of  that  worst  of 
diseases,  "sick  with  their  brother's  health." 

Then,  for  many  years  we  had  fervently  prayed  that  God  would 
open  the  doors  of  the  heathen  world  and  let  us  in  to  take  care  of 
the  heathen  as  "our  inheritance."  God  not  only  did  that,  but  he 
opened  our  doors  and  poured  the  heathen  in  upon  us.  When  the 
immigrant  came  he  became,  as  often  as  not,  an  American  patriot 
before  there  was  time  for  him  to  become  an  American  citizen.  He 
assimilated  everything  except  our  religious  impulse.  He  learned 
the  language  of  our  daily  speech  because  we  have  only  one  language 
to  be  mastered.  But  our  religion  presented  to  him  too  many 
tongues.  Why  should  we  wonder  that  he  could  not  distinguish  be- 
tween them?  He  found  a  united  democracy  and  he  became  a  part 
of  it  the  day  he  landed.  He  saw  the  unity  of  ideal  in  our  public  in- 
stitutions, and  he  made  it  his  own.  And  if  we  had  met  him  with 
a  united  brotherhood  of  the  church,  he  would  have  felt  the  mass 
impact  of  religion  as  he  felt  everything  else  and  he  would  have 
yielded  to  it. 

To  be  sure  there  was  a  little  getting  together.  The  ministers 
separated  themselves  off  from  their  churches,  or  assumed  that  they 
were  their  churches,  formed  ministerial  associations,  and  listened 
sometimes  to  papers  on  the  authorship  of  the  fourth  Gospel,  some- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  47 

times  on  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  there  were  one  or  two 
Isaiahs  (in  all  probability  the  local  politician  in  the  community  had 
never  been  impressed  by  them  that  there  was  even  one  Isaiah). 
But  only  occasionally  did  they  consider,  with  very  serious  intent, 
the  common  problems  of  their  community  life.  We  had  to  begin 
this  way  because  we  were  afraid  of  bringing  the  churches  them- 
selves together. 

Every  once  in  a  while,  generally  not  oftener  than  once  in  four 
or  five  years,  the  wave  of  evangelistic  power  would  strike  the  com- 
munity. The  evangelist  came,  rallied  the  united  forces  of  the 
churches  for  a  week  or  two,  then  went  away,  and  we  strangely  sup- 
posed that  what  it  was  perfectly  clear  could  be  begun  only  by  united 
action,  could  be  kept  up  and  developed  without  it,  and  the  churches 
fell  apart,  sometimes  a  little  farther  than  they  were  before. 

Meanwhile  every  force,  every  movement,  every  single  group 
gathered  to  oppose  the  church  was  making  its  common  compact, 
with  its  common  stock  and  its  evenly  divided  dividends. 

So  much  for  the  facts  of  history.  Let  us  now  seek  the  vision 
of  prophecy.  The  first  serious  movement  toward  federation  was  in 
the  foreign  field.  The  missionaries  began  to  send  back  word  that 
they  could  not  make  their  way  by  using  such  confusing  tongues. 

I  learned  in  3'Our  foreign  missions'  meeting  this  morning,  that 
the  United  Brethren  Church  contributes  thirty-five  cents  per  capita 
for  foreign  missions,  and  something  like  eight  dollars  per  capita 
for  the  work  at  home.  There  were  those  in  the  meeting  who  felt 
that  the  contrast  was  disproportionate.  There  is  this  to  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  the  thirty-five  cents  in  the  foreign  field  may 
go  about  as  far  in  bringing  about  effective  action  as  the  eight  dollars 
does  at  home,  because  over  there  they  are  working  with  economic 
efficiency  through  unity.  Christian  unity  is  in  the  nature  of  a  reflex 
action  and  is  a  part  of  our  reward  for  what  we  have  been  sending 
all  these  years  to  the  foreign  field. 

As  Mr.  McAfee  has  so  strikingly  and  eloquently  told  us,  the 
main  point,  upon  which  we  are  finding  our  most  common  approach, 
is  in  the  new  emphasis  which  we  are  giving,  because  we  are  forced 
to  give  it,  to  the  portentous  social  problems  of  our  day.  Here,  at 
least,  we  find  no  true  reason  for  differentiation.  No  one  will  argue 
that  there  are  Methodist  Episcopal  saloons,  or  that  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  Baptist  child  labor,  or  Congregational! st  vice,  or  Presby- 


48  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

terian  sweatshops,  or  Episcopal  Tammany  halls,  or  United  Brethren 
gambling  houses.  How  on  earth  can  there  be  any  jot  or  tittle  of 
difference  between  saving  one  man  at  a  time  or  saving  two?  Be- 
tween regenerating  an  individual  and  sanctifying  a  whole  city  full 
of  individuals?  The  only  difference  between  a  true  social  evangel- 
ism and  what  we  used  to  consider  by  that  word  is  that  the  mourn- 
ers' bench  and  mercy  seat  are  full.  We  come,  not  one  by  one,  but 
all  are  on  our  knees  together. 

One  of  the  most  foolish  discussions  which  were  ever  allowed  to 
be  perpetrated  upon  us  was  the  discussion  relative  to  individual  and 
social  religion.  Is  it  any  less  holy  to  crush  out  a  den  of  vice  than 
it  is  to  regenerate  a  vicious  man?  Go  to  commercialized  vice  and 
to  industrial  injustice  and  say  to  them,  "We  will  make  the  laws 
tighter,"  and  they  will  answer,  ''Very  well,  we  will  find  ways  to 
break  them."  Go  and  say  to  them,  "We  will  make  our  courts 
stronger,"  and  they  will  answer,  to  themselves,  if  they  do  not  to  us, 
"The  political  power  of  our  money  is  stronger  than  any  court  of 
justice."  But  suppose  you  could  go  to  them  and  say,  "The  churches 
of  this  city — all  of  them  have  gotten  together — are  thinking,  plan- 
ning, and  moving  as  one  man  to  crush  3'ou."  They  might  doubt  it; 
but  if  they  did  not  doubt  it,  they  would  fear  it  as  they  have  not 
feared  even  the  Almighty  himself. 

The  spirit  of  Christian  unity  is  in  the  air.  Whatever  may  be 
the  future,  the  first  step  is  co-operative  denominationalism.  It  is 
sometimes  quite  easy  to  get  the  churches  into  Christian  unity  if 
you  can  prevent  them  from  discussing  Christian  unity.  In  other 
words,  if  you  simply  show  them  the  task  and  say,  "There  it  is ;  it 
must  be  done,  and  it  can  only  be  done  by  all  moving  and  working 
together."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  if  3^ou  want  to  get  a  real  har- 
monious gathering  in  which  you  may  be  sure  there  will  be  no  in- 
vidious or  divisive  utterance,  you  are  not  so  likely  to  do  it  by  getting 
the  representatives  of  one  denomination  together,  but  in  a  body  like 
the  Federal  Council,  in  which  it  is  almost  impossible  to  extort  a 
divisive  or  inharmonious  expression.  In  other  words,  the  more  of 
these  different  bodies  you  can  get  together,  the  more  harmony  you 
get.  I  believe  I  am  also  right,  although  I  am  sometimes  disputed, 
when  I  say  that  there  is  less  differentiation  and  less  distance  between 
the  two  remotest  denominations  in  the  Federal  Council  than  there 
is  between  the  two  wings  of  any  one  denomination. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  49 

The  Federal  Council  is  the  attempt  to  realize  the  divine  law 
of  unity  with  diversity ;  unity  that  is  not  uniformity,  and  diversity 
that  is  not  divisiveness. 

One  thing  I  want  to  ask  of  you  men.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  for- 
get your  great  denominational  tasks  and  duties,  but  I  do  ask  that 
this  Congress  shall  send  forth,  from  the  men  of  the  United  Breth- 
ren Church,  the  finest,  sweetest,  strongest,  and  most  unhesitating 
message  that  your  committee  can  prepare,  to  the  men  of  all  other 
evangelical  churches  of  this  nation,  telling  them  that  you  wish  to 
vv'ork  together  with  them  for  the  coming  of  the  kingdom. 

Finally,  then,  brethren,  the  creative  work  of  home  missions  can 
be  conceived,  to-day  and  to-morrow,  only  by  a  Protestant  Church 
with  the  social  vision  and  impulse,  and  can  only  be  performed  by 
unity  and  comity.  And  only  by  these  selfsame  tokens  can  the 
heathen  lands  be  redeemed ;  the  heathen  of  those  lands  who  come 
to  us  be  shaped  into  a  Christian  democracy;  the  Christian  Sabbath 
be  saved ;  the  Christian  home  preserved  in  sacred  purity ;  our  boys 
delivered  from  the  hosts  of  sin ;  our  girls  delivered  from  the  lust 
of  men;  the  people  redeemed  from  injustice  and  oppression. 

Two  things  the  church  must  gain:  the  one  is  spiritual  au- 
thority ;  the  other  is  human  sympathy.  And  be  her  human  sympathy 
ever  so  warm  and  passionate,  if  she  have  not  her  spiritual  authority, 
she  can  do  little  more  than  raise  a  limp  signal  of  distress  with  a 
weak  and  pallid  hand.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  she  assumes  a 
spiritual  authority  without  a  commensurate  human  sympathy,  she 
becomes  what  her  Master  would  call  ''a  whited  sepulchre  filled  with 
dead  men's  bones."  But  the  church  can  gain  neither  of  these  two 
things  except  as  she  unites  her  moral  and  spiritual  forces. 

The  law  by  which  the  thirty  denominations  of  the  Federal 
Council  are  coming  together,  is  what  the  poet  has  called  "the  Law 
of  the  Jungle." 

"Now  this  is  the  law  of  the  jungle:  as  old  and  as  true  as  the  sky, 
And  the  wolf  that  shall  keep  it  may  prosper,  but  the  wolf  that  shall 

break  it  must  die; 
As  the  creeper  that  girdles  the  tree  trunk,  the  law  runneth  forward 

and  back. 
For  the  strength  of  the  pack  is  the  wolf,  and  the  strength  of  the 
wolf  is  the  pack." 


OUR  RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  AMERICA  AND  THE 
NON-CHRISTIAN  WORLD 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE  CHURCH  TO  THE  HOMELESS 

BY    R.    J.    WHITE 

It  is  my  privilege  to  call  your  attention  to  a  very  practical  prob- 
lem. I  wish  that  Dr.  W.  H.  Washinger,  who  was  to  have  addressed 
you  on  this  subject,  were  here.  He  is  an  expert  on  this  subject, 
having  given  his  attention  to  a  study  of  the  rnatter,  being  a  trustee 
of  the  Quincy  Orphanage. 

This  problem  has  been  thrust  upon  the  Church  during  the  past 
few  years.  We  have  been  thinking  about  it,  praying  over  it,  and 
our  Church  has  not  faltered,  and  something  has  been  accomplished. 
We  know  of  the  home  at  Quincy  Pennsylvania,  for  the  care  of  or- 
phans. It  is  located  on  a  very  fertile  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  acres  of  land.  Not  far  away  is  the  Home  for  the  Aged, 
with  thirteen  acres  of  land  and  some  buildings.  There  is  the  Ot- 
terbein  Home,  near  Dayton,  Ohio,  with  its  4,005  acres  of  rich  land. 
Then  there  is  the  Baker  Home,  at  Otterbein,  California,  with  twenty 
acres  and  some  buildings. 

We  have  made  a  fine  beginning.  All  of  these  homes  furnish 
great  opportunities  for  doing  good,  but  there  are  still  great  require- 
ments and  demands  for  sacrifice  and  labor.  Better  equipment  and 
more  monc}^  are  needed  to  make  these  homes  accomplish  the  work 
they  are  capable  of  doing.    We  have  made  a  good  start. 

Some  of  the  very  serious  questions  that  come  to  every  one  who 
begins  to  think  upon  this  problem  are :  To  what  extent  should  the 
care  for  the  homeless  be  left  to  Christian  civilization,  to  a  Christian 
state?  To  what  extent  should  the  Church  burden  itself  with  the 
care  for  the  homeless  ?  Who  should  be  admitted  into  these  homes  ? 
Should  we  make  an  effort  to  care  for  all  of  the  homeless  in  the 
community  or  should  we  simply  care  for  those  who  are  members  of 
our  own  fold  ?    Can  we  care  for  all  the  poor  within  the  membership 

50 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  -^1 

of  the  Church  and  provide  for  them  a  home?  Are  we  to  provide 
homes  simply  for  the  needy  ministers  and  their  families?  These  are 
some  of  the  problems  that  confront  us. 

There  is  one  word  of  the  Master  that  is  of  very  great  impor- 
tance, "I  was  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me  in."  We  have  the  stranger 
with  us.  He  comes  to  our  door.  Ever  since  Cain  went  forth  as  a 
vagabond,  a  wanderer,  there  have  been  the  wanderers,  the  homeles.*^ 
ones,  and  we  certainly  have  a  duty  to  perform,  a  mission  for  the 
homeless.  Some  of  these  strangers  have  been  forced  out  by  misfor- 
tune, by  sickness,  by  death;  many  of  them  by  sin;  many  of  thern  by 
the  ceaseless,  grinding  complication  of  our  present  civilization. 
They  have  found  it  impossible  to  survive.  '1  was  a  stranger  and 
ye  took  me  in."  It  seems  to  me  it  is  our  duty  as  a  Christian  church 
to  do  everything  in  our  power  to  remove  the  causes  that  produce 
the  stranger.  That  is  simply  a  self-evident  fact  that  all  will  accept 
at  once.  Wherever  these  causes  can  be  removed,  the  Church  should 
set  itself  earnestly  and  vigorously  to  remove,  if  possible,  these 
causes.  We  all  realize  that  the  one  great  cause  is  drink.  I  remem- 
ber being  in  Kansas  at  the  General  Conference,  and  a  gentleman 
remarked  to  me,  *Tn  this  county  we  have  an  empty  poor-house  and 
an  empty  jail."  For  years  that  county  had  been  delivered  from  the 
curse  of  strong  drink  and  from  the  saloon,  and  that  was  the  cause 
of  the  empty  poor-house  and  the  empty  jail. 

Christ  said,  'T  was  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me  in."  The  man 
who  comes  to  your  door,  who  asks  for  something  to  eat  and  a  help- 
ing hand,  is  a  representative  of  Jesus  Christ.  That  is  Christ's  own 
way  of  putting  it.  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  Sometimes  it  is  difficult 
when  you  realize  that  these  strong,  able-bodied  men  come  to  you 
with  marks  of  dissipation  upon  their  faces  and  ask  for  a  little  help. 
Sometimes  you  feel  like  the  conductor  that  was  on  the  train  yester- 
day. They  had  just  such  a  character  aboard  and  the  conductor  was 
trying  to  get  rid  of  him,  and  did.  "Why,"  he  said,  "such  men  as 
that  haven't  got  any  soul ;  they  are  not  fit  to  live.'*  If  that  is  true, 
they  are  not  fit  to  die,  and  still,  bad  as  they  are,  in  some  way  they 
represent  Jesus  to  you  and  to  me. 

I  want  to  emphasize  that  word  "took."  "I  was  a  stranger  and 
ye  took  me  in."  We  are  to  give  him  a  place,  the  poor,  homeless  one 
that  is  adrift.    We  are  to  seek  to  find  for  that  man  an  anchorage. 


52  Our  Men  and  TJieir  Task 

I  don't  know,  friends,  that  that  really  means  that  we  are  to  have 
spare  beds  and  accomniodate  all  that  come  to  our  door,  but  some 
way,  somehow,  we  should  provide  a  chamber  for  the  stranger.  *'I 
was  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me  in."  Christian  society  has  become 
aware  of  this  fact.  \\'e  must  care  for  the  homeless,  and  the  man 
who  pays  his  taxes  cheerfully  docs  som.ething  to  care  for  the  poor 
in  his  county  and  State ;  he  is,  in  a  measure,  carrying  out  the  com- 
mand of  Jesus.  We  rejoice  in  what  is  being  done  by  the  State, 
and  we  rejoice  in  what  is  being  done  by  all  of  the  charity  organiza- 
tions. But,  friends,  as  a  Church,  we  realize  that  we  have  those 
among  us  who  have  become  homielcss  perhaps  on  account  of  sick- 
ness or  death,  of  being  poorly  supported  by  the  Church  for  which 
they  have  labored.    What  is  our  duty  to  them? 

I  rejoice  in  what  we  are  accomplishing,  and  I  pray  that  the 
dear  Lord  may  give  to  the  Church  a  vision  of  its  dut\-  and  privilege 
respecting  the  orphan  and  the  aged. 


THE  LOCAL   CHURCH   CAPTURING   THE   COMMUNITY 

FOR  CHRIST 

BY   CHARLES   W.    REGARD 

I  have  a  new  policy  for  the  recent  years  of  my  ministry,  which 
I  would  like  to  share  with  this  Congress.  I  have  eliminated  from 
my  religious  vocabulary  the  word  "problem,"  and  substituted  in  its 
place  the  word  ''opportunity."  When  God's  servants  cease  this 
restless  and  terrible  struggle  at  the  solution  of  problems,  and  begin, 
with  the  inspiration  of  heaven  upon  them,  to  investigate  the  oppor- 
tumty  which  the  day  affords,  we  will  be  ashamed  that  we  were  ever 
guilty  of  small  talk  concerning  problems,  and  we  will  thank  God 
eternally  for  the  big  day  upon  earth  we  were  permitted  to  use  in 
the  work  of  his  kingdom.  The  other  day,  in  a  meeting  of  our 
evangelistic  commission,  it  was  revealed  that  we  have  more  than 
five  hundred  churches  which  did  not  add  a  single  member  each  on 
confession  of  faith  during  the  year.  I  have  been  reflecting  a  bit 
upon  this  awful  situation,  and  have  tried  to  form  some  kind  of  a 
concept  of  a  pastor  of  one  of  these  churches,  and  I  can  only  see 
him  standing  forth  in  the  stately  pathos  of  one  apart  from  fellow- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  S3 

ship  with  Jesus  Christ  and  bereft  of  any  soul-passion  to  drive  him 
to  the  rescue  of  dying  souls. 

A  few  years  ago  when  I  entered  upon  my  mission  work  in  the 
city  of  Lorain,  and  H.  A.  Bowling  went  to  my  home  town  at  Ash- 
land as  pastor,  I  wrote  him  a  letter  charging  him  to  look  well  after 
the  flock  of  which  some  of  our  kin  were  members.  In  closing  his 
letter  of  reply  he  said,  'The  old  Ashland  church  is  looking  up." 
And  then  in  great,  splashing  parentheses  he  added,  "She  is  on  her 
back  and  cannot  look  in  any  other  way." 

INGLORIOUS    PARENTHESES   IN    THE   CAREER   OF    CHURCHES 

It  may  be  a  good  thing  sometimes  to  be  sufficiently  helpless  in 
spirit  that  we  cannot  look  any  way  but  upwards,  yet  I  hold  that  the 
devil  is  responsible  for  a  lot  of  the  inglorious  parentheses  into  which 
many  modern  churches  have  fallen.  It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that 
this  Congress  will  do  a  fine  job  in  knocking  the  devil's  brackets  off 
of  every  local  church  which  does  not  add  a  single  soul  on  confession 
in  a  whole  twelve-month.  I  believe  it  was  Lord  Kitchener's  sub- 
ordinate who  came  to  the  great  general  and  undertook  to  explain  the 
reasons  why  he  failed  to  carry  out  certain  orders.  Kitchener 
listened  to  the  soldier  with  gravity  and  tenderness  of  heart  until 
the  whole  excuse  was  tabled  before  him,  and  then  replied:  "The 
reasons  you  have  given  for  not  obeying  orders  are  the  best  I  have 
ever  heard.    Now,  go  and  carry  out  the  original  orders !'' 

Brethren,  is  it  possible  that  we  spend  a  good  part  of  our  time 
in  the  presence  of  our  Great  Commander  trying  to  explain  why 
it  is  that  we  have  not  discharged  the  commission  ?  Jesus  listens  to 
our  little  story  in  patience  and  pity,  and  then,  when  we  are  through, 
he  repeats  the  original  orders.  He  says,  "Go  and  do  it.  Go  ye  and 
capture  the  community  for  me,  and  I  will  be  with  you  until  the 
job  is  finished."  This  is  not  the  "Authorized"  version ;  only  a  perti- 
nent, up-to-date  paraphrase. 

WPIAT    IT    TAKES   TO    CAPTURE    THE    COMMUNITY 

In  tlie  brief  time  allotted  me  I  v/ant  to  indicate  the  main  lines 
along  which  the  church  must  move  in  her  efforts  to  capture  the 
community  for  Christ. 

L     Pastoral  Leadership  Paramount. 

2.     Power  to  Fight. 


54  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

3.  Passion  to  Weep. 

4.  Purpose  to  Pay. 

Too  many  preachers  seem  contented  with  small  programs.  Wc 
clamour  for  big  fields  for  our  pigmy  plans.  We  somehow  glory 
in  mock  battles  and  in  limited  and  partial  conquests.  We  never 
plan  to  swing  the  whole  army  of  God  at  our  command  against  the 
bulwarks  of  the  enemy  for  a  sweeping  and  decisive  victory.  Our 
failure  here  actually  belittles  God  in  the  eyes  of  the  enemy.  God 
never  fails ;  we  fail  him.  I  think  it  was  Drummond  who  once  said 
that  unless  a  man  undertakes  to  do  more  than  he  possibly  can  do, 
he  will  never  do  as  much  as  he  possibly  can  do.  I  have  observed  it, 
how  that  God  can  draw  out  and  multiply  our  force  and  even  sur- 
prise the  weakest  of  us  when  we  undertake  a  task  that  appalls  and 
almost  overwhelms  us,  and  we  wonder  whether  it  is  ever  to  be 
made  possible.  At  such  a  juncture  as  this  I  often  cry  out.  Oh,  my 
God,  how  big  art  thou?"  and  then  go  forward  believing  that  the 
Almighty  has  sense  enough — and  I  say  it  reverently — never  to  put 
a  task  upon  a  child  of  his  without  multiplying  his  strength  suffi- 
ciently to  fulfill  it  completely. 

Now,  a  pastor  isn't  much.  Only  a  voice  in  the  community  to 
direct  the  army  to  the  conquest.  Every  time  the  doors  of  the 
church  swing  open  after  worship  it  should  lead  out  from  the  camp- 
fire  and  council  of  war  to  take  the  community  for  Jesus  Christ. 
Too  many  churches  are  wanting  ''business  managers"  for  pastors, 
when  what  they  need  is  hot-blooded  prophets  of  the  heroic  type 
who  can  lead  the  forces  to  war. 

FIGHT  THE  DEVIL 

The  church  is  still  a  militant  body  and  she  cannot  succeed 
\\  ithout  a  fight.  I  sometimes  think  that  we  have  sheathed  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit  and  hung  it  away  among  the  traditional  relics  in  the 
•museums  of  our  day.  We  are  on  better  terms  with  the  devil  than 
we  used  to  be.  We  shake  hands  with  the  old  chap  and  assure  him 
that  we  are  not  seriously  disposed  to  do  him  personal  injury.  We 
have  instituted  a  little  "The  Hague"  court  somewhere  in  which  we 
fix  up  our  troubles  with  his  arch-majesty  by  peaceful  arbitration. 
We  almost  seem  to  wish  him  God-speed  as  he  slouches  away,  prom- 
ishing  to  behave  like  an  angel.  The  old  liar!  The  fact  is,  brethren, 
we  have  almost  deified  the  devil  by  the  way  we  welcome  and  sane- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  55 

tion  certain  vices  of  which  he  is  father.  We  must  unsheath  the  old 
sword  of  the  Spirit  and  declare  war  against  the  whole  scheme  of 
the  devil.  Try  to  make  your  Christianity  a  concrete  corrective  and 
you  will  have  to  fight  for  standing  ground.  Jesus  was  painfully 
accurate  in  his  fire  against  the  citadels  of  sin.  He  dealt  definitely 
with  the  enemy.    So  must  we. 

~  TRACKED  BY   THEIR  TEARS 

Power  to  fight  and  passion  to  weep.  The  church  terrible,  and 
the  church  tender.  When  Peter  ceases  to  weep  over  his  own  fail- 
ures we  will  have  little  hope  of  him.  You  can  track  the  best  sol- 
diers of  Christ  up  the  heavenly  way  by  puddles  of  tears.  A  lot  of 
us  need  to  take  a  walk  with  the  Master  up  to  the  hill-top  and  look 
down  over  the  city  and  the  community  with  breaking  hearts  and 
weeping  eyes.  There  are  too  many  dry-eyed  revivals.  When  sin 
ceases  to  crush  Christian  hearts,  as  it  crushed  the  heart  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  salvation  will  cease  its  supreme  appeal.  Christians 
are  largely  to  blame  for  the  modern,  soft  emphasis  upon  the  nature 
of  sin.  It  is  no  longer  a  savage  beast,  but  a  fondled  pet.  It  must 
be  an  awful  demon  to  draw  blood  from  the  heart  of  the  Son  of 
God!  The  ministry  of  Christ-like  tenderness  captures  the  com- 
munity for  our  Lord. 

MODERN    WARFARE    COMES    HIGH 

Neither  can  you  capture  the  community  for  Christ  without 
money,  a  purpose  to  pay.  Gypsy  Smith  says  you  cannot  save  hu- 
manity on  cheap  lines.  Modern  warfare  comes  high.  You  cannot 
discharge  a  gun  without  destroying  a  fortune.  When  our  religious 
batteries  are  supplied  with  the  munitions  necessary  to  carry  on  the 
mightiest  warfare  that  God  has  ever  launched,  it  is  going  to  cost 
the  community  something  to  proceed  with  the  battle.  The  penny- 
act  may  serve  well  for  a  pop-gun  campaign,  but  the  big  guns  of 
the  kingdom  cannot  be  discharged  without  immense  treasures.  The 
collection  basket  could  tell  us  some  strange  stories.  Great  soul- 
tragedies  have  been  enacted  over  against  our  Lord's  treasury. 

The  rich  young  ruler  wanted  to  be  religious  at  the  minimum 
cost.  Jesus  told  him  to  bring  the  cash  along.  His  greed  was  lac- 
erated and  he  went  back  on  his  sorrowful  way  to  hell,  lugging  his 
vile  dirt  with  him.     The  Holy  Ghost  has  detected  robbers  in  the 


56  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

very  house  of  God !  Ananias  and  Sapphira  make  poor  mouths  as 
they  try  to  explain  how  generous  they  have  been,  with  a  big  wad  of 
goods  kept  back.  God  may  not  strike  them  dead  to-day,  but  their 
souls  are  choked  and  smothered  to  death  under  such  trappings  of 
hypocrisy. 

I  am  glad  to  be  a  volunteer  in  the  army  that  is  to  capture  not 
only  the  community,  but  the  world  for  Christ.  I  think  it  was 
Dr.  Joseph  Parker,  who  said  in  his  last  sermon :  ''As  long  as  the 
church  of  God  is  only  one  of  many  institutions,  she  will  have  her 
little  day.  She  will  die.  But  just  as  soon  as  she  gets  the  Spirit  of 
Jesus  until  the  world  thinks  she  has  gone  stark  mad,  then  we  shall 
be  on  the  high  road  to  capture  this  planet  for  Jesus." 

"Oh,  it  is  great  to  be  out  where  the  fight  is  strong, 

To  be  where  the  heaviest  troops  belong. 

And  to  fight  for  man  and  God. 

Oh,  it  seams  the  face  and  it  dries  the  brain, 

It  strains  the  arm  'til  all  is  pain. 

In  the  fight  for  man  and  God. 

But  its  great  to  be  out  where  the  fight  is  strong." 


WINNING  OUR  SHARE  OF  AMERICA 
BY  w.  M.  wp:ekley 

When  we  consider  America  in  its  relation  to  the  rest  of  the 
world,  it  becomes  clear  that  it  is  the  most  important  of  all  mission 
fields.  So  Dr.  F.  B.  Meyer,  of  London,  thinks.  Recently  a  reporter 
in  Baltimore  said  to  him,  "Mr.  Meyer,  you  have  just  traveled  around 
the  world  studying  missions;  what,  in  your  view,  is  the  greatest 
mission  field  in  the  world?"  Immediately  he  replied,  'The  United 
States,  because  you  have  here  all  nationalities  of  the  world  cen- 
tered." And  such  is  the  opinion  of  Bishop  Hartzell,  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  long  a  missionary  in  Africa.  He  says,  "The 
greatest  single  mission  field  on  the  face  of  the  earth  is  the  United. 
States." 

America's  strategic  position  in  the  world 

For  various  reasons  our  position  in  the  sisterhood  of  nations 
is  unique  and  pivotal.     All  eyes  are  upon  us.     Our  every  act  is 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  57 

critically  and  mercilessly  analyzed.  When  America  speaks,  all  lands 
stop  to  listen ;  every  time  her  heart  throbs,  they  feel  the  vibration ; 
every  time  she  lifts  her  foot,  they  hear  the  thunderous  tread  of  her 
onward  march.  Her  long  arms  of  commerce  reach  out  and  touch 
all  civilized  and  semi-civilized  countries,  and  thus  she  is  linked  with 
the  rest  of  mankind.  Men  interested  in  religion,  science,  education, 
sociology,  civil  government,  and  the  great  productive  industries,  are 
pouring'in  upon  us  from  every  quarter  to  study  our  spirit,  methods, 
and  outlook,  and  especially  our  democracy,  which  guarantees  to 
every  man  liberty  of  conscience,  the  right  of  free  speech,  and  the 
protection  of  life  and  property. 

The  coming  of  a  million  aliens  yearly  to  our  shores  to  live,  the 
most  of  whom  are  un-American  and  non-Protestant,  and  are  likely 
to  so  remain,  is  a  fact  of  tremendous  significance,  and  gives  a  new 
aspect  to  our  national  life  and  importance  as  a  world-power.  This 
foreign  element,  for  the  most  part,  is  so  controlled  by  selfish  pol- 
iticians and  unscrupulous  ecclesiastics  as  to  make  it  a  determining 
factor  in  our  municipal,  State,  and  Federal  affairs. 

The  indications  now  are  that  the  immigrants  to  our  shores  for 
the  present  fiscal  year  will  break  all  records— reaching  the  enormous 
figure  of  one  million,  five  hundred  thousand.  Of  this  number,  six 
hundred  thousand  will  be  classed  as  illiterates.  If  the  usual  number 
return  to  their  native  countries,  we  will  have  this  year  a  net  in- 
crease of  one  million,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  foreigners, 
of  whom  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  will  be  unable  to  read 
and  write.  I  have  no  time  to  comment  on  these  figures,  except  to 
say  that  they  represent  a  condition  which  makes  the  work  of  the 
churches  and  of  the  National  Government  more  difficult  and  prob- 
lematical as  the  years  come  and  go.  No  other  nation  ever  had  such 
a  task  on  its  hands.  I  am  wondering  if  we  are  even  half  awake 
to  the  seriousness  of  the  situation.  Are  we  aware  of  the  place  we 
occupy  on  the  map  of  the  world?  Do  we  in  any  adequate  sense 
recognize  the  possibilities  and  responsibilities  which  the  position 
brings  ?  God  help  us  to  see  the  religious  significance  of  America  in 
the  great  family  of  nations,  and  to  realize  that  when  she  comes  to 
fully  recognize  Jesus  in  all  her  affairs,  spiritual,  commercial,  and 
political,  and  is  ready  to  put  the  crown  on  him,  the  very  ends  of 
the  earth  will  hasten  to  join  in  the  fimal  coronation.  Some  one 
states  the  matter  tersely :  "America  is  to  be  either  the  tomb  in  which 


58  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

the  hopes  of  the  world  will  be  buried  forever,  or  a  pillar  of  cloud 
by  day  and  of  fire  by  night  to  lead  the  world  into  the  light  and  glory 
of  a  millennial  day."  'The  future  of  the  world,"  declares  Doctor 
Storrs,  in  the  same  strain,  "is  pivoted  on  the  question  whether  the 
Protestant  churches  of  America  can  hold,  enlighten,  and  purify  the 
people  born  or  gathered  into  its  great  compass." 

A   PROTEST  AGAINST   MISLEADING  CHURCH   STATISTICS 

Now,  if  we,  as  a  Church,  are  to  be  a  factor  in  the  saving  of 
America,  the  question  arises.  How  much,  or  what  part  of  the  work 
are  we  to  assume?  What  is  our  just  proportion  of  the  population? 
I  am  sure  we  never  can  reach  a  satisfactory  answer  by  merely  figur- 
ing out  our  relative  numerical  strength  among  the  thirty-seven  mil- 
lion church  communicants  scraped  together  by  Doctor  Carroll,  our 
great  statistician ;  for  the  more  church  members  this  country  has  of  a 
certain  type,  the  worse  off  it  is.  In  his  last  annual  report,  Doctor 
Carroll  exults  over  a  gain  in  religious  adherents  of  655,108;  but 
all  such  reports,  in  my  judgment,  are  misleading  and  mischievous 
in  so  far  as  they  attempt  to  set  forth  the  religious  state  of  the  na- 
tion and  the  Christian  agencies  emplo3^ed  in  its  salvation.  For  ex- 
ample: He  counts  13,099,000  regular  Catholics,  with  an  increase 
last  year  of  215,000;  and  I  am  morally  certain  that  in  proportion 
as  Romanism  flourishes  and  becomes  a  dominating  influence,  Amer- 
ica's pace  toward  paganism  will  be  accelerated.  This  is  as  true  as 
mathematics,  if  papal  history  in  other  countries  is  to  be  considered 
of  any  significance.  Then  we  have  438,500  Eastern  Orthodox  Cath- 
olics, 296,000  ^lormons,  200,000  Spiritualists,  and  85,000  Christian 
Scientists.  To  these  may  be  added  the  membership  of  more  than 
one  hundred  small  organizations,  including  Buddhists,  the  Theo- 
sophical  Society,  and  the  Society  for  Ethical  Culture,  that  do  nnt 
amount  to  anything,  never  did,  and  never  will. 

Doctor  Carroll  gives  in  one  table  the  increase  of  all  the 
churches  numbering  one  hundred  thousand  and  upward,  since  1900, 
and  shows  a  net  gain  of  9,679,422.  "Wonderful  growth !"  some  of 
you  are  ready  to  shout.  "The  per  cent,  of  church  members,  com- 
pared with  the  increase  of  population,  is  climbing  up  all  the  time," 
so  we  are  informed.  But  let  us  pause  a  moment  before  any  one 
goes  into  spasms  of  ecstacy.  Out  of  this  gain  of  9,679,422,  the 
Catholics  are  credited  with  a  net  increase  of  5,050,689.    That  is  to 


Otir  Men  and  Their  Task  59 

say,  in  thirteen  years  their  gain  has  been  421,844  more  than  that  of 
all  the  other  churches  put  together.  And  this  tremendous  growth, 
mark  you,  is  found  in  an  organization  that  is  the  most  colossal  foe 
the  nation  ever  had.  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  brethren,  no  church 
(so  called)  that  stands  against  an  open  Bible,  against  our  free  school 
system,  against  our  country's  flag,  against  free  speech,  a  free  press, 
and  liberty  of  conscience ;  that  goes  to  Rome  rather  than  to  Wash- 
ington for  its  orders,  and  that  condemns  and  consigns  to  an  eternal 
perdition  all  who  refuse  to  put  their  necks  under  its  accursed  yoke, 
shall  ever  be  put  in  the  same  category  with  the  United  Brethren, 
and  other  great  evangelical  bodies  of  this  country.  No  church  (so 
called)  that  believes  in  and  practices  polygamy;  that  degrades  wo- 
manhood ;  that  defies  civil  law  in  the  perpetuation  of  its  dirty  life, 
shall  ever  go  down  on  the  same  white  page  where  the  name  of  my 
Church  is  recorded  along  with  the  names  of  the  other  God-honored 
Christian  bodies  of  the  world.  Please  heaven,  I  will  shout  my  pro- 
test to  the  last  moment  against  any  pretended  church  denying  the 
deity  of  Jesus  Christ  going  into  the  same  list  of  redeeming 
agencies  that  my  own  Church  stands  with. 

THE  UNITED  BRETHRExN"   CHURCHES  SHARE  OF  AMERICA 

I  suppose  the  number  of  church  people  represented  in  the 
I'ederal  Council  of  Churches — about  16,936,233 — would  constitute 
a  reasonable  ground  on  which  to  base  our  relative  strength,  and 
to  approximate  the  proportion  of  the  nation's  population  for  which 
we  are  responsible,  for  outside  the  thirty  churches  composing  this 
council,  not  much  is  being  done  to  save  America. 

We  have,  in  this  country,  about  one  hundred  million  ])eopIc. 
l'\)ur  years  ago  the  census  showed  ninety-two  millions ;  so,  allowing 
for  a  gain  of  two  millions  a  year  is  not  putting  the  figures  too  high, 
if  high  enough.  If  I  am  correct  in  this,  then  our  share  of  the 
country's  population  is  approximately  two  millions,  or  one  million, 
six  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  more  than  we  have  in  our 
membership.  If  for  the  next  decade  the  increase  averages  two  and 
a  half  millions  yearly,  our  additional  proportion  will  be  fifty  thou- 
sand, which,  if  properly  cared  for,  will  require  annually  the  organ- 
ization of  at  least  seventy-five  new  churches,  and  the  erection  of  as 
many  meeting-houses  to  supply  their  needs.  To  build  these  places 
of  worship,  and  support  fifty  additional  pastors,  will  mean  an  in- 


60  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

creased  expenditure  of  not  less  than  a  half-million  dollars.  Mark 
you,  I  am  speaking  of  the  church's  new  work  and  increased  outlay. 
But  are  we  measuring  up  to  what  God  and  our  country  require  of 
us?  Are  we  satisfied  ourselves  with  what  we  are  doing?  I  answer, 
Not  by  any  means.  But  I  do  affirm  that  since  we  have  eyes  to  see 
the  immense  field  before  us,  and  ears  to  hear  the  Macedonian  calls 
for  help,  and  sensibilities  to  feel  the  touch  of  duty,  we  will  be  guilty 
before  high  heaven  if  we  hesitate  to  assume  our  full  share  of  respon- 
sibility in  redeeming  America  for  Christ. 

WE  MUST  USE  MORE  MONEY 

To  rightly  discharge  this  tremendous  obligation,  three  things 
are  needful:  First,  We  must  have  more  money.  The  expenditures  at 
present  for  the  home  work,  and  especially  for  domestic  missions, 
are  utterly  inadequate  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  hour,  and  abso- 
lutely out  of  proportion  to  the  Church's  ability  to  give. 

Think,  will  you,  of  a  church  considerably  more  than  three  hun- 
dred thousand  strong,  setting  apart  $56,250  for  general  home  mis- 
sions ;  and  if  the  full  budget  is  not  raised,  this  insignificant  sum  will 
be  diminished  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  cents  on  every  dollar  not 
collected.  If  this  condition  continues  we  shall  not  be  able  to  hold 
our  own,  much  less  to  undertake  the  new  work  from  year  to  year 
which  a  growing  population  will  make  necessary. 

In  a  multitude  of  cities  and  towns  where  we  have  not  yet  gone. 
God  has  a  mission  for  us  among  the  neglected  and  fallen.  The 
great  centers  in  the  East  and  South  are  just  as  needy  and  important 
as  are  like  cities  in  the  West,  and  their  appeals  for  help  come  to  us. 
in  ringing  tones ;  but  the  territories  most  inviting  are  to  be  found 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  in  some  portions  of  the  South. 
Among  the  increasing  millions  of  these  sections  there  are  legions 
who  must  get  God's  message  through  the  United  Brethren  Church, 
if  they  get  it  at  all ;  and  to  us  he  would  have  them  look  for  the 
bread  of  life  and  spiritual  oversight. 

But  how  slowly  our  home  missionary  work  goes ;  and  no 
wonder !  We  are  only  asking  the  church  to  pay  the  paltry  sum  of 
nineteen  cents  per  member  for  the  use  of  the  Home  Mission  Board. 
Did  you  get  the  amount?  Nineteen  cents.  At  this  rate,  how  long 
will  it  take  to  gather  in  the  sixteen  hundred  thousand,  and  more, 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  61 

beyond  our  pale  ?  And  to  what  extent  will  we  be  able  to  provide  for 
the  extra  fifty  thousand  who  are  to  come  to  us  yearly? 

I  bring-  the  complaint  that  the  United  Brethren  Church  has 
never  been  fully  awake  to  the  importance  of  home  missions,  as  her 
record  clearly  indicates.  Our  conce])Lion  of  the  work  has  been  to 
extend  it  just  as  a  few  local  preachers  could  carry  it  on.  This  has 
especially  been  true  in  the  West.  Some  of  the  other  churches  were 
wise  enough  to  support  their  missionaries,  and  to  aid  in  building- 
places  of  worship.  Such  men  gave  prestige  to  their  cause,  and  not 
only  gathered  their  own,  but  largely  garnered  the  results  of  the 
labors  of  our  itinerant  farmers.  The  church  first  in  a  community 
to  save  souls,  to  aid  in  erecting  a  house  of  prayer,  and  to  otherwise 
administer  to  the  people,  will  most  likely  win  and  hold  them,  and 
so  it  should.  And  this  theory  holds  good  when  expanded  into  a 
county  or  State.  T  have  in  mind  a  certain  great  commonwealth  in 
the  West,  entered  by  United  Brethren  pioneers  in  the  middle  fifties 
when  it  was  yet  a  poor  territory.  We  were  among  the  first  to 
carry  the  good  message  across  its  sun-scorched,  wind-v/hipped  prair- 
ies to  the  scattered  homesteaders  who  had  gone  thither  to  live.  But 
our  work  was  imperfectly  done.  Not  because  the  pioneer  heralds 
lacked  devotion  and  courage,  for  they  did  not.  Their  names  were 
written  among  the  stars,  and  deserve  to  be  there;  but  they  had  no 
material  support  worth  speaking  of  except  what  they  earned  by  the 
toil  of  their  hands.  Under  such  limitations  they  could  not  succeed 
in  the  best  sense.  Another  denom.ination  went  in  at  the  same  time, 
but  its  missionaries  were  so  well  cared  for  that  they  could  give  all 
their  time  to  preaching,  visiting,  and  holding  revivals.  They  cared 
for  their  converts,  and  for  many  of  ours  as  well ;  they  found  their 
way  into  the  homes  of  the  sick,  and  where  hovered  the  raven  wing 
of  death.  In  other  words,  they  had  but  one  work,  and  to  that  was 
given  every  ounce  of  their  strength,  and  everv  day  of  the  week. 
In  this  particular  field  we  have  expended  possibly  seventy-five  thou- 
sand dollars  of  missionary  money,  and  probably  loaned  as  much  to 
aid  in  starting  church  buildings,  while  the  other  church  has  put 
into  it  three-quarters  of  a  million  in  hard  cash  to  aid  its  men;  has 
given  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  outright  to  help  erect  houses 
of  worship,  and  loaned  a  half-million  for  the  same  purpose. 

Results,  do  you  ask?  Here  they  are  in  cold  figures — cold 
enough  to  almost  chill  the  blood  in  our  veins.     We  have  eighteen 


62  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

thousand  members,  while  the  sister  church  has  fully  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand,  with  church  edifices  and  parsonages 
worth  five  million  dollars.  The  same  thing  is  true  in  other  States 
in  the  West.  It  is  no  pleasant  thing,  I  assure  you,  to  speak  of  our 
failures  in  other  years,  but  if  a  church  never  sees  its  mistakes,  it  can 
hardly  be  expected  to  correct  them.  Our  blunders  along  this  line 
have  not  grown  out  of  our  theology,  nor  out  of  our  general  gov- 
ernmental policy,  for  these  were  such  as  to  recommend  the  church ; 
no  better  can  be  found  anywhere  beneath  the  heavens ;  but  we  were 
led  into  error  through  a  false  philosophy  respecting  the  process  of 
building  up  a  strong  denominational  life.  But  having  seen  the  fal- 
lacy of  our  course,  are  we  going  to  change  our  methods  of  oper- 
ation along  the  line  of  our  extension  work  and  determine  hence- 
forth to  make  good,  Avhatever  the  cost  ?  Immense  fields  are  opening 
everywhere,  both  in  city  and  country,  and  United  Brethren  are 
going  to  them  by  thousands.  Shall  we  pursue  the  policy  of  bygone 
decades,  whine  over  our  helplessness,  and  simply  look  on  as  these 
members  are  absorbed  by  other  denominations?  Or  shall  w^e  heed 
their  calls,  provide  the  helpful  agencies  they  need,  and  consider  it 
a  God-send  that  we  have  such  devoted.  Christian  characters  around 
whom  to  build  in  fields  so  big  with  promise  to  the  church?  ^lany 
of  the  conferences  are  striving  heroically  to  enlarge  their  local 
w^ork.  I  know  this  to  be  the  case  on  the  East  District,  and  it  is 
just  as  true  in  other  portions  of  the  Church.  Some  of  them  get  no 
help,  whatever,  from  the  parent  board ;  others  very  little ;  and  all 
because  the  board,  much  of  the  time,  is  next  to  bankrupt.  It  could 
put  every  dollar  it  receives  into  Oklahoma,  New  Mexico,  and  Col- 
orado, or  into  Washington,  Oregon,  and  California,  and  then  not 
spend  nearlv  so  much  as  some  other  churches  appropriate  to  these 
fields. 

To  see  wide-open  doors  of  usefulness  forever  closed  against 
us ;  to  hear  our  people  w^ho  have  been  saved  at  our  own  sacred  altars, 
plead  for  preaching,  and  not  be  able  to  give  it  to  them ;  to  see  local 
churches  disorganized  in  promising  localities,  and  our  membership 
wholly  lost  to  us,  and  yet  feel  utterly  unable  to  prevent  such  things, 
is  an  experience  that  makes  the  heart  sick. 

Some  one  may  suggest:  "Let  our  people  who  move  into  the 
cities  and  new  country  districts  where  we  are  not,  go  to  some  other 
good  church ;  w^hat's  the  difference  anyhow  ?"     But  I  say  it  does 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  63 

make  a  difference.  If  a  rol)ust,  aggressive,  denominational  exist- 
ence is  to  be  preserved  and  fostered,  we  must,  as  far  as  possible, 
conserve  the  fruits  of  our  toil ;  we  must  gather  what  we  have  sown. 
:Vnd  this  is  not  selfishness  or  bigoted  sectarianism,  but  religion  and 
good  common  sense. 

I  persist  in  the  inquiry:  Are  we  going  to  pursue  the  policy 
of  other  years?  Are  we  to  keep  on  playing  at  home  missions,  and 
doing  journey  work  for  sister  churches?  I  say.  No;  a  thousand 
times,  no.  And  I  think  the  whole  Church  is  ready  to  give  hearty 
assent  to  what  I  here  say. 

The  clock  of  time  is  now  striking  the  hour  of  a  new  era  in  our 
history,  and  arousing  in  us,  I  trust,  a  self-consciousness  and  sense 
of  obligation  that  will  mightily  intensify  our  purpose  to  help  win 
America  for  Christ. 

THERE  IS  NEED  OF  MORE  AND  BETTER  PREACHERS 

Second,  We  need  and  must  have  more  and  better  preachers. 
The  conception  that  any  old  stick  will  do  for  our  mission  fields  is 
a  delusion,  and  will  put  a  handicap  on  any  church  that  permits  itself 
to  be  thus  deceived.  In  far  too  many  instances  we  have  used  such 
men  to  our  serious  detriment.  The  experiment  of  employing  cheap 
labor  has  proved  exceedingly  costly  to  the  United  Brethren  Church. 
The  truth  is,  we  need  our  strongest  and  best  equipped  men  for  the 
new  fields  we  enter.  I  can  see  how  an  old  charge  with  a  large, 
influential  membership,  and  with  the  prestige  of  years  back  of  it, 
might  get  along,  at  least  for  a  time,  with  an  ordinary  pastor,  but 
in  our  mission  work,  where  the  Church  is  comparatively,  or  alto- 
gether unknown,  a  man  to  properly  represent  us  is  the  greatest 
need ;  for  if  a  church  starts  wrong,  if  the  people  of  the  community 
get  an  unfavorable  impression  of  the  preacher,  who  really  stands 
for  the  church,  it  takes  a  long  time  to  wipe  the  slate  clean  for  a  new 
start.  Every  argument  urged  for  sending  well-prepared  men  to 
foreign  fields  applies  with  equal  force  to  the  home  work,  because 
of  its  difficulties  and  world-wide  significance.  And  because  of  this 
need,  and  our  anxiety  to  supply  it,  we  are  duty  bound  to  encourage 
and  make  strong  and  inviting  our  schools  of  training  through  which 
the  ministry  of  the  future  must  largely  come. 


64  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

PREACH    AND    LIVE   THE   OLD-TIME   GOSPEL 

Third,  We  need  to  preach,  with  increased  emphasis,  the  old- 
time  gospel,  live  the  old-time  religion,  and  constantly  "look  to  Jesus, 
the  author  and  perfecter  of  our  faith." 

When  Henry  M.  Stanley  was  about  to  start  in  search  of  David 
Livingston,  who  had  long  been  in  Africa,  James  Gordon  Bennett, 
of  the  Nezv  York  Herald,  telegraphed  him,  ''Draw  on  me  for  a 
thousand  pounds ;  if  that  will  not  do,  draw  on  me  for  another  thou- 
sand; and  if  that  is  not  sufficient,  continue  to  draw  on  me  until 
Livingston  is  found  and  rescued."  God  keep  us  from  forgetting 
that  in  Jesus  Christ  our  resources  are  infinite,  for  "He  is  able  to 
supply  all  our  needs  according  to  his  riches  in  glory."  Moreover,  "He 
is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think. 
This  is  enough  to  make  the  head  swim.  Thinking  of  Jesus — of  his 
eternal  fullness — is  like  thinking  of  space.  However  far  our  concep- 
tions travel,  there  is  still  infinite  beyond.  And  to-day  this  same 
Girist,  of  infinite  supplies,  speaking  down  to  us  from  the  throne  of 
heaven,  says,  "Draw  on  me  for  all  the  grace  and  wisdom  and 
strength  you  may  need,  and  keep  on  drawing  on  me  until  America 
is  rescued  and  redeemed." 


THE  OPPORTUNITY  AND  CHALLENGE  IN  OUR  FOR- 
EIGN FIELDS 

BY  ALFRED  T.   HOWARD 

I  like  the  ring  of  the  subject,  "The  Opportunity  and  Challenge 
in  Our  Foreign  Fields."  I  like  the  thought  suggested  in  the  word 
"challenge,"  with  the  underlying  idea  of  equality.  The  mountain 
does  not  challenge  the  mole-hill  to  battle,  and  the  challenges  that 
are  ofifered  to  you  men  during  these  days  are  great  because  you 
are  great  and  because  you  represent  great  possibilities. 

So  it  is  no  impossible  dream  we  are  presenting  here  wdien  these 
five  foreign  fields  are  held  up  before  you,  because  any  one  who 
considers  the  forces  you  represent  will  know  that  you  men  and 
those  with  whom  you  are  associated  are  able  to  discharge  the 
entire  obligation  that  is  laid  on  our  Church  abroad. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  65 

RAILROADS    BETTER    THAN    ROMAN    ROADS 

First  of  all,  these  fields  and  the  cause  with  which  they  are 
associated  are  a  challenge  to  our  wonder.  We  sometimes  read  in 
the  history  of  St.  Paul  of  the  conditions  which,  converging,  made 
his  labors  effective.  We  see  how  the  old  Roman  roads  stretched 
from  one  end  of  the  great  continents  to  the  other.  In  this  we  pro- 
fess to  see  providential  dealings  in  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
church.  If  convenient  means  of  communication  were  regarded  as 
providential  in  St.  Paul's  time,  how  our  wonder  ought  to  be  excited 
when  we  see  the  means  that  God  is  placing  in  the  hands  of  the 
Christian  church  at  the  present  day. 

Within  the  past  year  and  a  half,  as  I  have  gone  over  our  work 
in  the  Philippine  Islands  and  China  and  the  other  fields,  the  acces- 
sibility of  these  people  is  one  of  the  features  that  surprises  me. 
In  that  section  of  the  Philippine  Islands  where  our  Cliurch  is 
operating,  one  can  now  travel  from  north  to  south  by  rail  or  in 
convenient  automobiles,  a  fact  that  was  not  true  even  three  years 
ago.  All  parts  of  our  Chinese  field  are  accessible  by  boats  that  are 
fairly  comfortable,  even  if  none  too  clean.  Our  territory  in  Japan 
is  as  accessible  as  the  Miami  Valley,  though  even  Japanese  roads 
are  probably  surpassed  by  the  fine,  new  highways  in  Porto  Rico. 

Then,  when  one  remembers  what  travel  was  in  Africa  fifteen 
years  ago  and  then  considers  how  much  more  easily  he  can  get 
about  there  to-day,  we  can  only  wonder,  I  say,  at  these  new  means 
that  God  has  so  very  recently  placed  at  our  disposal.  We  are  now 
talking  about  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal.  Well,  the  next 
great  achievement  to  talk  about  after  that  will  be  the  completion 
of  a  railway  that  will  extend  from  Cairo  to  the  Cape,  a  distance  of 
five  thousand  miles.  Another  great  railway  runs  eight  hundred 
miles  north  in  Nigeria.  North  of  Sierra  Leone,  a  French  line  pene- 
trates four  hundred  miles  into  the  interior  where  connection  is  made 
with  a  line  of  steamers  that  goes  four  hundred  miles  further  eastward, 
and  the  purpose  is  to  push  this  line  still  farther  east  until  it  crosses 
the  great  continent.  In  Sierra  Leone,  in  which  we  are  particularly 
interested,  with  a  railway  running  across  the  colony  and  a  branch 
reaching  out  to  the  northeast,  one  can  now  travel  in  fairly  com- 
fortable railway  trains,  whereas  a  few  years  ago  he  could,  by  the 
severest  exertion,  travel  only  fifteen  to  twenty  miles  a  day,  and 
suffer  every  sort  of  hardship. 


66  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

INCREASING  WEALTH   OF   FOREIGN   PEOPLES 

Again  our  wonder  is  challenged  by  the  latent  wealth  of  our 
people.  You  will  pardon  me  if  I  speak  this  morning  more  from  my 
experience  in  Africa  than  from  other  fields.  A  few  years  ago  the 
African  people  \yere  commonly  regarded  as  poor,  perhaps  might 
always  remain  poor,  but  it  is  being  discovered  that  not  only  is 
Africa  rich  in  certain  natural  resources,  but  that  many  of  her  peo- 
ple are  becoming  prosperous.  The  development  of  the  gold  and 
the  diamond  mines  in  South  Africa  reads  like  a  new  chapter  in 
Arabian  Nights,  and  in  East  Africa,  too,  great  rich  mines  and 
territories  are  being  developed.  In  Nigeria  one  thousand  tons  of 
tin  per  month  are  being  placed  on  the  market,  and  great  cattle  men 
from  South  Africa  are  transferring  their  interests  into  Nigeria. 
Men  who  have  lived  there  a  number  of  years  regard  it  as  second 
only  to  India  in  importance  among  the  British  colonies.  In  a  colony 
called  the  "Gold  Coast,"  there  are  mines  that  are  enriching  Euro- 
peans, while  cocoa  in  the  same  colony  is  making  the  common  peo- 
ple prosperous.  But  in  Sierra  Leone,  on  the  west  coast,  with 
which  we  are  more  closely  associated,  the  palm  kernels  are  bringing 
the  people  a  larger  and  more  certain  income.  These  palm  kernels 
produce  an  oil  that  is  used  by  the  shipload  in  Europe  for  the 
manufacture  of  soaps,  imitation  butter,  and  olive  oil.  Nearly  every 
Sunday  morning  I  observed  from  five  to  seven  vessels  in  the  harbor 
of  Freetown,  almost  every  one  of  which  was  loaded  down  with 
this  palm  oil.  While  the  natives  of  Sierra  Leone  are  already  obtain- 
ing large  returns  from  the  oil,  the  men  who  are  engaged  in  the 
purchase  of  these  kernels  tell  me  that  last  year  more  than  ninety 
million  dollars'  worth  of  the  nuts  went  to  waste  in  that  one  colony 
because  they  were  so  remote  from  a  navigable  river  or  railway 
as  to  make  it  impracticable  to  market  them,  although  men  will  carry 
a  bushel  or  two  of  kernels  six  or  seven  days'  journey  on  their 
heads  in  order  to  get  them  to  market.  And  yet,  valuable  as  these 
trees  are,  they  are  only  self -planted,  and  a  hundred  times  as  many 
trees  could  be  grown  as  are  standing  there  now.  Thus  these  peo- 
ple in  West  Africa  are  going  to  be  moderately  well-to-do,  and  any 
one  who  knows  the  negro  race  knows  this,  that  if  they  have  money 
they  will  give  it  to  the  church.  Though  Africa  is  the  home  of  the 
black  men,  they  have  few  political  privileges  there.  Only  in  the 
church    do    they    have    anything    like    self-government,    therefore 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  67 

the  church  is  their  one  idol.  So  we  ought  to  rejoice  at  these  evi- 
dences of  increasing  wealth  in  the  hands  of  these  church-loving 
people. 

ADMIRATION    FOR    WHAT   OTHERS   ARE   DOING 

Then  there  is  a  challenge  to  our  admiration  of  what  other 
societies  are  doing.  About  three  years  ago  I  was  in  Yokohama  and 
saw  thirty-five  new  missionaries  going  out  to  West  China  for  the 
Canadian  Methodist  Church.  What  a  magnificent  contribution  that 
was  for  one  church  to  make  in  one  year.  Then  we  are  inspired  by 
the  work  that  is  being  done  by  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Egypt.  I  think  about  ten  years  ago  this  church  was  spending 
something  like  thirty  thousand  dollars  for  educational  work  there, 
but  in  ten  years  they  have  increased  this  appropriation  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Coming  home,  one  of  my 
fellow  passengers  on  a  German  ship  was  a  missionary  from  the 
Gold  Coast  in  Africa.  His  society  (the  English  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odist) has  been  working  in  that  section  for  about  seventy  years. 
They  have  now  a  membership  of  sixteen  thousand,  and  those  six- 
teen thousand  persons,  with  adherents,  gave  last  year  over  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  the  work  of  the  church.  Dur- 
ing the  past  ten  years  the  Presbyterians  have  done  probably  the 
most  phenomenal  work  of  all  in  Africa  in  carrying  out  a  definite, 
ten-year  policy.  At  one  time  seven  thousand  persons  met  in  one 
place  to  celebrate  the  holy  sacrament.  In  ten  years  their  native 
force  increased  from  55  to  257  and  their  contributions  from  $1,400 
to  $14,000. 

THE    UNITED    BRETHREN    CHURCH     IN    THE    FOREFRONT 

Again  the  progress  we  have  seen  in  our  own  work  abroad 
challenges  our  gratitude.  Not  only  is  God  working  through  these 
other  great  denominations,  but  he  is  using  those  agencies  that  have 
been  developed  by  the  United  Brethren  Church  also.  I  am  glad 
and  grateful  myself  for  the  fact  that  we  have  been  providentially 
associated  with  practically  all  the  great  non-Christian  religions  of 
our  time.  In  West  Africa  we  have  an  opportunity  to  present  Jesus 
Christ  to  people  who  know  no  Savior,  but  live  ever  in  the  fear  of 
legions  of  devils.  There,  too,  we  are  having  a  part  in  presenting 
our  God  as  a  loving,  heavenly  Father  to  Mohammedan  believers 


68  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

who  know  him  merely  as  a  hard,  loveless  God.  On  the  other  side 
of  the  world  we  are  face  to  face  with  reviving  Buddhism  in  Japan, 
Confucianism  in  China,  and  with  decadent  Romanism  in  our  Span- 
ish-American colonies. 

THE  church's  training  AGENCIES  ABROAD 

We  have  reason  to  be  grateful  for  the  training  agencies  that 
have  been  developed.  I  presume  a  great  many  of  you  read,  during 
the  past  year,  that  remarkable  book  by  Mr.  Eddy,  ''A  New  Era  in 
Asia."  As  one  closes  this  book  he  can  only  be  grateful  to  God 
that  such  great  leaders  as  Dr.  Mott  and  Mr.  Eddy  have  been  raised 
up,  yet  on  second  thought  there  is  regret  that  men  who  are  able  so 
to  move  the  hearts  of  people  of  India  and  China  and  Japan  find 
it  necessary  to  go  elsewhere.  Perhaps  if  they  could  always  remain 
there  they  could  move  the  masses  more  rapidl)^  than  others  have 
been  able  to  do.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  raise  up  training 
agencies  that  will  develop  great  men  who  will  stay  in  the  country 
and  help,  by  constant  association  with  the  people  there,  to  solve  the 
problems  that  are  presented.  And  so  a  man  w^as  raised  up  to  estab- 
lish the  Clark  Training  School  in  Africa  years  ago.  Later  on  wdien 
it  was  felt  necessary  to  have  a  school  of  higher  grade,  a  gentleman 
gave  the  Church  the  funds  for  the  Albert  Academy.  Though  the 
Miller  Seminary  does  not  yet  have  a  proper  home  of  its  own,  it 
has  made  annually  a  fine  contribution  to  the  womanhood  of  Qiina, 
and  similarly  the  Deaconess  Training  School  in  San  Fernando  is 
doing  an  important  work  in  training  leaders  among  the  women  in 
the  Philippines.  In  addition  to  these  strictly  denominational  schools, 
our  Church  has  had  a  part  in  co-operating  with  other  churches  in 
training  strong  leaders  in  three  union  theological  schools ;  one, 
the  Doshisha,  in  Japan,  one  in  South  China,  and  one  in  the  Philip- 
pine Islands.  The  men  who  have  graduated  from  these  schools  are 
not  only  well  trained  intellectually,  but  they  are  willing  to  bear  the 
yoke. 

A  native's  sacrifice  and  power 

Not  all  the  sacrifice  and  work  for  foreign  missions  are  done  by 
people  on  this  side  of  the  water.  One  of  our  men  in  Africa,  whose 
name  most  of  you  know,  is  Mr.  Thomas  Hallowell.  He  has  been 
connected  with  our  work  for  a  good  many  years  and  is  a  man  whom 
his  fellow-workers  love  and  trust.    A  couple  of  years  ago  an  oppor- 


Otir  Men  and  Their  Task  69 

tunity  came  to  him  to  go  back  to  his  own  native  town  and  take 
an  appointment  as  a  sub-chief,  a  position  that  would  have  brought 
to  him  wealth  and  comfort.  Financially  it  would  have  been  about 
as  great  a  promotion  as  for  a  man  who  received  five  hundred  dol- 
lars or  seven  hundred  dollars  a  year  in  the  ministry  here  to  accept 
a  position  at  five  thousand  dollars  or  six  thousand  dollars,  but  he 
turned  down  this  proposition.  Do  you  wonder  that  God  honored 
his  sacrifice  by  one  of  the  greatest  evidences  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
that  has  been  seen  in  Sierra  Leone  for  a  half-century?  Native 
men  who  had  long  lived  in  gross  sin,  fell  on  the  floor  crying  for 
mercy.  It  cannot  be  said  that  this  was  hypnotic  suggestion,  because 
none  of  them  had  ever  seen  any  such  manifestations  of  repentance 
before.  I  believe  that  Brother  Hallowell's  victory  over  the  offer 
of  worldly  honor  and  money  was  one  of  the  causes  at  the  back 
of  this  remarkable  meeting.  And  then  in  Africa  we  had  the  greatest 
victory  last  year  that  has  ever  been  won  in  any  single  year  along 
financial  lines.  The  advance  in  contributions  for  missions  was 
about  thirty  per  cent,  over  the  previous  year;  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  per  cent,  in  pastors'  salaries;  one  hundred  and  thirty 
per  cent,  for  church  erection  and  expenses,  so  that  our  people  in 
Sierra  Leone,  those  black  people  who  have  so  very  little  in  their 
own  homes,  gave  over  five  dollars  per  member  to  the  support  of  the 
church. 

RUM   AND  RACE  PREJUDICE 

Then,  friends,  we  are  challenged  to  a  conflict  with  great  foes 
to  those  friends  of  ours  in  other  lands  whom  we  are  endeavoring 
to  uplift.  Look  at  the  increasing  consumption  of  rum  in  Sierra 
Leone.  The  importation  has  doubled  within  the  last  four  years, 
one-half  the  income  of  the  colony  coming  from  spirituous  liquors. 
No  true  friend  of  the  African  can  behold  that  dark  tide  by  which 
those  primitive  people  are  being  engulfed  without  dismay  and  a 
determination  to  fight  the  trade  and  the  use  of  liquor  to  a  finish. 

Then  there  is  the  great  barrier  of  race  prejudice  to  overcome 
if  we  are  ever  to  go  far  in  extending  the  kingdom  of  God  on  the 
earth.  We  can  hardly  understand  how  deeply  seated  this  race 
prejudice  is  and  how  very  seriously  it  aft'ects  our  work.  In  a  cer- 
tain town  in  Africa  just  two  or  three  evenings  before  I  was  there, 
a  new  District  Commissioner,  walking  out,  met  a  native  man  who 


70  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

did  not  take  off  his  hat  to  him.  I  am  not  sure  that  the  native  had 
any  way  of  knowing  that  the  European  was  the  District  Commis- 
sioner, but  this  representative  of  British  justice  and  honor  knocked 
the  man  down  and  then  beat  him  with  his  stick.  Not  only  was  the 
man  thus  brutally  treated,  angered,  but  the  whole  community  was 
inflamed  by  this  injustice.  In  Porto  Rico  the  chief  industries  are 
the  production  of  sugar,  tobacco,  and  coffee,  and  if  the  rich  Amer- 
ican owners  go  down  there  in  a  lordly  sort  of  way  and  disregard 
the  feelings  of  the  Porto  Ricans,  even  the  poorest  and  humblest  of 
them,  we  may  look  for  trouble  in  that  little  island.  Only  the 
Christian  church  with  her  message  of  love  preached  to  both  the 
Americans  and  the  people  of  Porto  Rico  can  secure  in  that  beau- 
tiful island  conditions  that  we  desire  to  see. 

Again  we  are  challenged  by  the  significant  opportunity  of  this 
hour  when  in  every  one  of  these  lands  with  which  we  have  to  do, 
people  are  losing  faith  in  their  old  religion.  When  their  faiths  are 
crumbling  is  it  not  of  the  highest  importance  that  we  go  with  a 
definite  message  of  a  personal  vSavior  and  lift  him  before  those 
of  whom  it  can  be  more  truthfully  stated  than  ever  before  that  they 
are  indeed  feeling  after  God? 

THE    CHALLENGE   OF   THE   TASKS 

Then  we  are  challenged  to  face  actual  facts.  We  must  to-day 
either  advance  or  retreat.  Let  me  ask  you  men,  what  you  would  do 
if  you  had  been  providentially  associated  with  foreign  missions 
as  a  life  work?  We  find  that  our  fathers,  after  prayer,  opened 
these  various  missions  in  these  different  fields.  They  opened  the 
missions  when  the  Church  was  only  half  or  two-thirds  its  present 
size  and  when  the  wealth  of  the  Church  was  far  from  its  wealth 
at  the  present  time.  Though  no  new  territory  has  been  added  for 
fifteen  years,  yet  we  find  ourselves  to-day  facing  great  needs  in 
those  foreign  fields  our  predecessors  saw  good  reasons  for  opening. 

Our  most  remote  outposts  are  the  Kono  country  in  Africa  and 
the  Mountain  Province  in  the  Philippine  Islands.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Smith  and  Mrs.  Todd  are  the  only  missionaries  to  the  Kono  peo- 
ple, and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Widdoes  are  standing  at  the  door  of  the 
Mountain  Province,  where  live  races  of  men,  head-hunters,  whom 
the  Roman  Church  for  four  hundred  years  neglected.  No,  we  can 
not  retreat.     We  nuist  go  forward.     And  yet  it  is  quite  impossible 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  71 

to  go  forward  and  meet  these  definite  and  reasonable  obligations 
without  the  gathering  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
new  schools,  hospitals,  chapels,  and  residences  abroad.  In  addi- 
tion to  that  there  must  be  a  fifty  per  cent,  increase  in  our  appro- 
priations for  current  work.  Does  any  one  say,  "Too  great  an 
advance"?  Why,  in  the  one  country  of  Japan,  the  number  of 
Christian  pastors  must  be  increased  fourfold  in  order  that  there 
may  be  one  pastor  to  every  ten  thousand  people. 

I  know  that  I  am  speaking  to  fair-minded  men  and  that  you 
believe  this  program  for  our  part  of  the  non-Christian  world 
ought  to  be  carried  out.  Does  this  mean  that  our  congregations 
must  hear  the  cry  of  money,  money,  money  more  frequently  than 
ever?  Let  us  strike  a  deeper  note  than  that.  Oh,  friends,  the  only 
alternative  for  the  cry  of  money,  money,  money  is  loyalty,  loyalty, 
loyalty  to  Jesus,  Savior  and  Lord.  Loyalty  is  indeed  the  soul  of 
religion,  \vithout  which  in  intense  form  there  can  be  no  progress 
either  at  home  or  abroad.  Our  young  people  have  shown  their 
loyalty.  Some  of  the  choicest  of  them  have  dedicated  their  lives 
to  this  task.  I  tell  you,  men,  the  young  people  in  our  Church  or 
some  other  are  going  to  change  the  color  of  that  map  of  the  world. 
When  our  young  men  and  women  give  their  lives,  will  we  withhold 
an  average  gift  of  fifty  cents  per  member  to  provide  for  their  sup- 
port and  equipment?  These  young  people  expect  the  Church  at 
home  to  give  them  a  square  deal.  The  men  who  have  been  years 
on  the  field,  who,  by  hardship  are  growing  prematurely  gray,  wait 
eagerly  for  news  of  an  advancing  tide  on  the  part  of  the  home 
Church.  Our  churches  abroad  that  have  been  nurtured  by  home 
agencies  have  a  right  to  expect  that  the  church  from  which  they 
sprang  will  go  forward  from  conquering  to  conquer.  You  men 
can  hardly  realize  how  intently  the  eyes  of  these  fellow-Christians 
in  other  lands  are  fixed  on  you.  You  expect  them  to  do  the  heroic 
thing,  but  mind  you,  they  expect  us  to  do  the  heroic  thing  and  to 
continue  to  lead  them  leagues  in  advance  of  where  they  are. 

SOME    IMMEDIATE    NEEDS 

Fortunately,  Africa  is  not  asking  for  any  especially  expensive 
equipment  at  this  time.  Porto  Rico  requires  $3,500  for  our  part  in 
a  union  theological  school,  and  $7,000  for  a  church  in  Yauco,  an 
up-to-date  little  city,  the  center  of  a  large  and  important  district. 


72  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

Five  thousand  dollars  are  needed  for  a  lot  in  a  permanent  location 
in  Manila  where,  in  rented  quarters,  Mr.  Pace  and  his  associates 
are  making  a  church  home  and  a  social  center  for  the  twenty-five 
thousand  Ilocano  people  in  Manila.  It  would  be  difficult  to  over- 
state the  possibilities  of  a  good  church  with  certain  institutional 
phases  for  that  colony.  The  task  of  the  church  in  China  is  even 
more  distinctly  seen  to-day  than  it  was  two  years  ago.  Then  jt 
seemed  that  the  young  reformers  might  be  able  to  carry  forward 
many  of  the  phases  of  work  that  had  hitherto  been  maintained  by 
the  Christian  church.  Now,  it  seems  that  there  is  so  much  inertia 
to  be  overcome,  so  much  ignorance,  such  a  nation-wide,  Tammany- 
like system  of  graft  that  patriotism,  justice  and  integrity  cannot  be 
permanently  secured  by  any  Simon-says-thumbs-up  decree.  There 
must  be  more  strong  Christian  leaders,  hence  more  Christian  homes, 
more  Christian  schools,  more  Christian  literature,  more  of  all  that 
has  been  a  brace  to  us  in  our  social,  church,  and  national  life.  A 
multitude  of  voices  cry,  "Come  over  and  help  us."  The  hour  in 
Japan  is  not  less  critical.  Never  did  great  conditions  converge  as 
they  do  now  to  make  the  Christian  church  serious,  alert,  deter- 
mined. There  is  a  frank  recognition  of  moral  need.  Aid  is  ex- 
pected from  the  church.  There  is  the  most  serious  study  of  the 
message  of  the  church  that  has  been  given  for  twenty  years  at  least. 
The  churches  are  acting  together  for  the  largest  possible  good. 

At  a  time  like  this,  no  one  suggests  sounding  a  retreat.  No 
one  suggests  for  a  minute  that  the  little  children  in  our  Foundlings' 
Home  should  be  thrown  back  on  the  streets  and  the  doors  closed. 
No  one  approves  of  closing  the  doors  of  our  dispensaries  in  Africa, 
where  Doctor  Griggs  and  Miss  Landis  treated  seven  thousand  peo- 
ple last  year,  and  in  China  where  Doctor  Bigler  had  twenty-two 
thousand  interviews.  No  one  who  has  been  inspired  by  good  liter- 
ature advises  shutting  down  our  printing  presses  in  Africa,  Porto 
Rico,  or  the  Philippines.  With  the  cry  for  leaders,  leaders  every- 
where abroad,  surely  we  cannot  close  our  schools.  And  with  our 
growing  churches  and  Sunday  schools  we  cannot  lock  the  doors  of 
these  sanctuaries  because  the  infant  churches,  while  doing  hero- 
ically, are  not  yet  able  to  bear  all  their  expenses. 

I  have  spoken  long  enough — perhaps  too  long.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  Lincoln,  men  will  forget  what  we  say  here,  but  pray  God 
they  may  not  be  able  to  forget  what  you  men  determine  to  do  here. 


UNITED  MOVEMENT  TO  ENLIST  THE  LOCAL 
CHURCHES  IN  KINGDOM  EXTENSION 


EDUCATION  AND   INSPIRATION   NEEDED   IN   THE 
LOCAL   CHURCH 

BY  A.   C.   SIDDALL 

Are  we  here  simply  to  hear  of  big  tasks  and  to  experience  a 
few  thrills  of  oratory  and  to  hurrah  a  little  under  the  conviction 
that  the  enemy  will  covertly  retire  and  permit  us  to  have  the  field 
without  a  struggle  ?  No,  we  are  here  rather  to  take  cognizance  of 
the  impending  conflict  and  to  devise  ways  and  means  for  the  de- 
velopment of  leaders  adequate  to  such  an  issue,  and  discover  how 
to  mobilize  the  entire  United  Brethren  division  so  that  we  may 
fling  our  forces  like  a  solid  phalanx  against  the  powers  of  super- 
stition and  darkness. 

It  will  be  our  supreme  business  while  here  to  discover  the  chief 
strategy.  We  cannot  afford  to  be  deceived  as  to  where  the  issue 
really  lies.  Does  success  or  failure  to  do  our  part,  as  a  Church, 
lie  with  our  foreign  missionaries?  They  themselves  are  dependent 
upon  the  churches  at  home  for  support  and  sympathy.  Does  the 
issue  lie  with  our  heroic  band  of  home  missionaries?  They,  also, 
;are  j'dependent  upon  the  support  of  the  stronger  churches  in 
waging  a  vigorous  campaign.  Will  our  failure  be  attributable  to 
lack  of  opportunities?  We  are  Hterally  bewildered  by  the  abun- 
dance of  opportunities  at  home  and  abroad,  and  it  is  with  greatest 
difficulty  that  the  departments  can  restrain  themselves  from  going 
into  debt  in  order  to  meet  the  great  need.  Will  we  fail  because  our 
general  church  machinery  is  not  well  organized?  I  cannot  believe 
it;  our  departments  of  home  and  foreign  missions,  church  exten- 
sion, education,  Sunday  schools,  and  Young  People's  work  are  all 
in  splendid  condition  to  move  forward. 

Will  our  failure  be  that  we  do  not  have  a  good  financial  system  ? 
It  certainly  will  not  be  at  that  point,  for  Ave  have  a  system  that  is 

n 


74  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

scriptural  and  business-like  and  the  more  I  study  it  the  more  I  am 
convinced  of  its  inherent  goodness  and  that  we  ought  to  stand  by 
it  and  make  it  win. 

No,  our  issue  is  not  with  our  far-flung  battle  lines  in  China, 
Japan,  Africa,  Porto  Rico,  or  the  Philippines,  nor  is  our  issue  with 
our  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  home  missionaries  who  have  gone 
to  the  front  at  the  command  of  the  Church. 

The  battleground  in  this  campaign  is  in  the  local  church.  Our 
problem  is  to  bring  such  inspiration  and  information  to  the  local 
church  as  will  set  it  on  fire  for  God  and  bring  back  again  that  holy 
hunger  for  conquest.  All  the  benevolent  interests  of  this  denom- 
ination are  involved  in  a  budget  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars,  humiliatingly  small  for  a  church  with  a  member- 
ship of  three  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand,  and  one  wholly  inade- 
quate with  which  to  do  our  legitimate  share  in  the  conquest  of  the 
world  for  Christ.  We  are  far  from  being  assured  at  this  time  that 
even  this  amount  will  be  forthcoming.  The  days  right  ahead  will 
tell  whether  this  Church  has  statesmanship  of  sufficient  caliber  not 
only  to  arouse  our  churches  to  meet  a  budget  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  but  to  push  those  figures  up  to  the 
million  mark,  and  whether  we  shall  have  the  right  to  proclaim  our- 
selves an  aggressive  church. 

INSPIRATION 

Somehow  we  must  bring  to  the  local  churches  the  inspiration 
sufficient  to  advance  the  work  of  the  kingdom  with  enthusiasm. 
The  local  church  is  so  far  away  from  much  of  the  work  of  the 
Church  that  unless  we  link  them  up  closely  by  a  great  educational 
campaign,  there  is  constant  danger  of  a  loss  of  interest,  and  this 
loss  of  interest  means  defeat  to  the  general  work  of  the  Church. 
There  are  two  sources  from  which  a  local  church  draws  its  inspira- 
tion, and  to  these  sources  we  should  give  immediate  consideration. 

First,  the  church  draws  inspiration  from  its  own  victories  over 
its  own  immediate  problems.  I  cannot  here  adequately  discuss  any 
one  of  these  problems  and  can  only  briefly  call  attention  to  one  or 
two. 

The  conquest  of  the  community  for  Christ  and  the  church  is 
a  mighty  inspirational  force.  When  the  evangelistic  fires  are  burn- 
ing, and  the  people  are  being  saved  and  the  community  is  coming 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  75 

to  be  enrolled  in  the  Sunday  school,  then  it  is  that  the  local  church 
is  most  daring  to  undertake  great  things  for  the  Master's  sake. 
Nothing  so  discourages  a  local  church  as  to  be  continually  defeated 
in  its  own  field.  Nothing  is  more  needed  just  now  than  a  great 
evangelistic  campaign.  Last  year  there  were  five  hundred  United 
Brethren  churches  that  did  not  have  a  single  accession  on  confession 
of  faith,  and  five  hundred  and  twenty-six  others  had  only  one  such 
accession.  This  makes  one-third  of  our  churches  in  this  deplorable 
condition.  No  wonder  that  hundreds  of  our  churches  are  hard  to 
interest  in  our  general  enterprises.  In  many,  many  places  our  Sun- 
day schools  are  dragging  along  at  a  poor,  dying  pace  in  the  midst 
of  millions  of  unchurched  people.  We  can  stand  a  Sunday-school 
campaign  that  will  put  fifty  thousand  net  gain  in  our  schools  for  a 
quadrennium.  Last  year  v/e  actually  lost  in  our  enrollment.  Give 
the  local  church  victory  in  soul-winning  and  Sunday-school  growth 
and  you  have  gone  a  long  way  in  lifting  them  into  an  atmosphere 
where  they  will  grip  the  work  of  the  kingdom  with  tremendous 
earnestness. 

Another  local  problem  which  vitally  affects  our  local  churches 
is  the  management  of  their  finances.  Local  churches  that  have  vic- 
tory here  are  ready  for  the  call  to  advance.  But  once  let  the  pas- 
tor's salary  fall  greatly  in  arrears  and  the  janitor  be  unpaid,  and 
no  money  in  the  treasury,  and  you  find  a  condition  in  which  it  is 
difficult  to  get  a  church  to  look  up.  Our  appeal  for  benevolences 
finds  but  little  response.  Our  most  immediate  duty  is  to  bring  to 
such  churches  a  system  that  will  give  them  victory  and  set  them  free 
from  this  discouragement.  I  have  been  associated  with  churches 
enough  to  know  what  an  inspiration  it  is  to  a  church  to  have  victory 
at  this  point. 

Again,  the  local  church  is  inspired  zvhen  it  learns  of  victories 
achiezed  by  our  denominational  agencies.  We  cannot  expect  the 
local  church  long  to  respond  to  the  home  mission  appeal  when  they 
never  hear  of  any  good  being  accomplished,  but  once  let  them  know 
of  the  thousands  being  won  to  Christ  through  this  channel,  and 
their  response  is  continuous  and  hearty. 

INFORMATION 

Information  is  the  handmaid  of  inspiration.  It  is  the  food  upon 
which  inspiration  feeds.     It  is  the  foundation  upon  which  perma- 


76  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

nent  growth  in  the  church  is  built.  We  can  sometimes  seem  to 
make  headway  by  the  excitement  of  a  moment,  but  it  is  certainly 
clear  that  the  church  that  will  make  permanent  and  substantial  de- 
velopment will  do  it  out  of  an  intelligent  conception  of  all  the  facts 
involved  in  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  I  am  personally 
convinced  that  the  one  serious  problem  confronting  us  at  this  time 
is  how  to  get  the  proper  kind  of  information  and  instruction  to  our 
people. 

This  informational  propaganda  should  follow  three  lines: 

1.  Our  churches  need  instruction  and  information  on  the  ques- 
tion of  stezmrdship.  I  submit  if  this  is  not  vital  to  the  efficacy  of 
all  other  knowledge !  We  are  not  apt  to  be  moved  greatly  for  the 
spread  of  the  gospel,  although  we  may  know  there  are  millions 
perishing  for  the  bread  of  life,  until  we  recognize  ourselves  the 
stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God.  I  have  been  seriously  won- 
dering whether  we  may  not  become  so  engrossed  with  the  budget 
system  that  we  will  overlook  this  first  question  of  stewardship. 

Our  pastors  everywhere  should  plan  for  a  church-wide  cam- 
paign for  stewardship,  in  the  broadest  sense.  Not  so  much  the 
technical  discussion  of  the  question  of  tithing;  that  certainly,  but 
more  definitely  the  stewardship  of  the  whole  man.  I  can  see  how 
we  might  tithe  and  yet  have  an  extremely  limited  idea  of  the  Bible 
conception  of  stewardship,  but  if  once  led  to  receive  the  Bible  con- 
ception of  stewardship,  then  tithing  is  but  a  step.  Our  pastors  will 
not  make  it  a  hobby  and  defeat  themselves,  but  it  certainly  is  in- 
cumbent upon  us  to  preach  on  stewardship  in  a  large  way. 

There  should  be  made  available  for  distribution  a  splendid  as- 
sortment of  stewardship  literature.  I  believe  our  Finance  Com- 
mission would  do  really  a  strategic  thing  to  provide  financially  for 
the  preparation  and  dissemination  of  an  abundance  of  such  liter- 
ature. 

Might  there  not  be  organized  classes  for  the  study  of  Christian 
stewardship?  Splendid  textbooks  are  now  available  for  such 
work  in  the  churches.  I  have  attended  fifteen  annual  conferences 
and  twenty-five  group  conferences,  and  not  in  a  single  instance  has 
this  feature  been  emphasized,  although  we  have  suggested  classes  in 
many  branches  of  the  work. 

2.  We  must  foster  in  every  local  church  a  campaign  of  educa- 
tion along  the  line  of  the  great  enterprises  of  the  kingdom  in  which 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  77 

our  Church  should  be  interested.  We  need  not  expect  our  people 
to  do  beyond  their  vision  of  need.  The  fact  is,  most  of  us  fall  far 
below  this  standard  and  if  this  denomination  expects  our  people 
to  rally  to  the  support  of  our  general  interests  on  a  scale  larger 
than  our  present  attainments,  it  will  have  to  greatly  advance  the 
vision  of  our  people  by  giving  them  a  view  of  the  field.  Indeed, 
it  is  a  grave  question  if  we  can  reach  our  present  budget  without  this 
campaign  of  education  in  the  local  church.  It  is  revealing  no  secrets 
when  I  say  that  the  great  bulk  of  our  people  have  a  very  insufficient 
knowledge  of  our  work.  Eighty  per  cent,  of  our  local  churches 
have  never  conducted  a  mission  study  class,  and  are  consequently 
lacking  in  the  information  to  fire  them  with  zeal  for  our  home  and 
foreign  missionary  work,  and  I  feel  that  this  campaign  of  education 
will  most  certainly  eradicate  this  condition.  Doctor  Kendall  tells 
me  that  after  thorough  investigation,  it  is  his  conviction  that  not 
more  than  one  in  four  of  our  people  have  been  regular  contributors 
to  our  benevolences.  Suppose  we  make  it  one  in  three  and  that 
leaves  us  two  hundred  thousand  United  .Brethren  who  must  be 
aroused  to  action.  They  are  good  people  and  have  millions  of  money 
and  can  send  this  Church  on  at  a  greatly  accelerated  pace  if  we 
can  reach  them.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  to  every  one  that  this  cam- 
paign of  education  must  be  carried  into  every  local  church. 

May  I  suggest  some  things  that  should  be  done  ? 

First,  Let  there  be  organized  in  every  local  church  a  Wo- 
man's Missionary  Society  or  a  chapter  of  the  Otterbein  Guild.  Just 
why  pastors  and  conference  superintendents  should  have  ever  been 
lukewarm,  if  not  antagonistic,  to  this  pioneer  educational  society,  is 
beyond  me.  Long  before  any  one  in  our  Church  began  to  think 
of  organizing  mission  study  classes  in  our  churches,  the  Woman's 
Missionary  Association  was  at  the  work. 

Fifteen  years  ago  I  had  my  new  birth  into  mission  study  work 
by  conducting  a  class  for  the  local  society  in  "Via  Christi,"  and  each 
year  since,  as  pastor,  I  have  had  from  one  to  five  such  classes  with 
finest  results.  At  this  time  they  are  organizing  annually  more  for- 
eign mission  study  classes  than  the  Foreign  Mission  Society  is. 
They  are  also  organizing  annually  more  home  mission  study  classes 
than  the  Home  Missionary  Society  is. 

Second,  We  must  give  much  more  attention  to  our  young  peo- 
ple.   We  must  have  a  Young  People's  Society  in  every  church,  and 


78  Oiir  Men  and  Their  Task 

every  Young  People's  Society  must  have  a  mission  study  class. 
We  have  eighty  thousand  of  our  young  people  now  organized  and 
should  they  give  five  cents  per  week  for  our  benevolence  budget, 
it  would  mean  $208,000;  a  large  amount  but  entirely  within  the 
bounds  of  reason  and  the  key  to  unlock  this  storehouse  is  informa- 
tion. Can  we  organize  twenty  thousand  more  in  our  Church  ?  We 
certainly  can.  These  one  hundred  thousand  young  people  in  a  few 
}ears  can  be  brought  to  the  average  of  five  cents  per  week  for  the 
kingdom  of  God  under  proper  educational  stimulus. 

Third,  The  men  of  our  Church  present  a  wonderful  opportunity 
along  educational  lines.  W^e  have  now  nine  hundred  and  sixty-one 
organized  men's  classes  and  one  hundred  and  forty  chartered  Broth- 
erhoods in  our  denomination  and  every  one  of  these  classes  should 
pursue  the  study  of  some  book  each  year.  These  mission  study 
books  are  usually  put  up  in  eight  chapters  and  we  can  surely  get 
the  men  of  our  churches  to  give  one  night  each  week  for  eight 
weeks  to  such  a  purpose.  A  whole  lot  of  our  men's  classes  and 
brotherhoods  are  dying  of  dry  rot  and  nothing  under  heaven  will 
save  them  like  a  live  mission  study  class.  Some  pastors  say  it  can 
not  be  done.  I  know  it  can  be  done.  I  have  seen  it  done  and  they 
are  doing  it  now.  Let  us  go  back  to  our  churches  and  enlist  our 
men  in  this  important  work. 

Fourth,  If  the  mission  study  class  seems  for  the  time  imprac- 
ticable, then  let  there  be  organized  in  every  church,  including  men, 
women,  and  young  people,  a  mission  reading  circle.  This  is  done 
by  having  some  of  the  people  to  purchase  a  mission  study  book 
and  agree  to  read  it  through  in  their  homes.  After  they  have  read 
it  through,  the  pastor  will  assign  each  member  of  the  circle  a  par- 
ticular part  of  the  book  to  review  carefully,  and  some  Sunday  even- 
ing or  morning,  these  persons  are  to  speak  five  minutes  on  the 
parts  assigned.  Missionary  hymns  are  sung;  some  of  the  little  peo- 
ple give  missionary  recitations  and  the  pastors  give  a  red-hot  ad- 
dress on  the  book  read  and  you  have  interested  the  people  in  some 
phase  of  missionary  study.    Try  it. 

Fifth,  This  educational  work  in  the  local  church  must  not  leave 
the  Sunday  school  out  of  consideration.  I  am  convinced  that  here 
is  virgin  soil  for  a  great  work.  Many  of  our  schools  are  making 
offerings  to  our  missionary  and  benevolence  causes,  but  only  a  very 
few  schools  are  giving  missionary  instruction,  and  one  of  the  real, 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  79 

burning  needs  of  our  Church  at  this  time,  is  the  enlistment  of  our 
three  thousand  Sunday  schools  in  a  campaign  of  missionary  edu- 
cation. 

Nor  is  this  for  want  of  materials  and  plans  for  such  work.  In 
no  department  have  the  plans  for  missionary  training  been  more 
thoroughly  worked  out  than  in  the  Sunday  school.  Correspond- 
ence with  the  General  Secretary  of  this  department  will  bring  the 
necessary  information. 

Sixth,  This  educational  propaganda  in  the  local  church  will 
never  be  complete  until  we  secure  a  wider  circulation  of  our  church 
papers,  including  the  Telescope,  Watchword,  and  Woman's  Evangel. 
The  Telescope  is  a  mighty  factor  in  our  united  work  and  we  can 
greatly  extend  its  usefulness  by  increasing  its  circulation.  It  now 
goes  into  twenty-five  thousand  homes,  and  if  we  count  five  members 
to  the  family,  then  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  of  our  people  come  in  contact  with  the  Telescope  which 
leaves  almost,  if  not  quite,  two  hundred  thousand  entirely  un- 
touched. Do  you  want  to  greatly  increase  the  output  of  this  Church, 
then  double  your  circulation  of  the  Religious  Telescope. 

3.  Our  campaign  of  education  and  information  in  stewardship 
and  the  great  enterprises  of  the  kingdom  must  be  accompanied  with 
instruction  as  to  method  in  the  local  church..  I  will  not  dwell  on 
this  thought,  but  let  us  not  presume  that  our  people  grasp  easily 
our  systems  of  financing  our  general  interests.  I  am  doubtful  if 
over  ten  per  cent,  of  our  people,  not  including  pastors  and  general 
officers,  understand  our  present  system.  It  is  not  complex,  but  any 
system  requires  patient  perseverance,  ''line  upon  line;  here  a  little 
and  there  a  little."  Instruction  on  how  and  when  to  make  an  every- 
member  canvass ;  how  to  use  the  envelopes ;  hov/  to  keep  the  rec- 
ords; how  to  divide  the  money;  how,  where,  and  when  to  send  the 
money,  are  not  trivial  things,  I  assure  you. 

I  conclude  as  I  began;  our  battleground  is  the  local  church. 
I  hail  every  educational  agency,  but  they  must  lead  us  finally  to  the 
local  church  if  success  is  to  come  to  our  work. 


80  Oitr  Men  and  Their  Task 

OUR  TOGETHER  MOVEMENT— ENLISTING  ALL  IN 
GIVING  FOR  ALL 

BY  J.   S.   KENDALL 

Ex-President  Elliott,  of  Harvard  University,  once  said  that 
the  word  "together"  in  the  next  decade  would  be  the  most  signif- 
icant word  in  the  English  language.  This  prophecy  is  coming  true. 
The  industrial  world  has  taken  the  initiative.  The  church  is  rap- 
idly awakening  to  the  significance  of  this  movement. 

Our  own  benevolence  boards  have  caught  the  spirit  and  have 
joined  in  a  ''together  movement"  for  the  financing  of  the  depart- 
ments of  the  Church  which  they  represent.  This  campaign  is  now 
on,  and  we  desire  to  have  it  conducted  in  the  most  sane  and  busi- 
ness-like way  possible  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  men. 

This  united  movement  contemplates  a  more  adequate  support 
for  both  the  local  church  and  the  benevolences.  Never  before  in  the 
history  of  our  denomination  have  all  the  forces  entered  upon  a  to- 
gether effort  to  meet  the  tasks  and  improve  the  opportunities  which 
confront  us  at  home  and  abroad.  Never  before  has  the  financial 
program  been  related  in  such  a  way  that  the  greatest  efficiency  of 
the  church  can  be  realized. 

The  plan  is  simple,  easily  understood,  and  practical.  It  is 
appealing  to  our  people  when  properly  presented,  and  is  meeting 
with  most  encouraging  success. 

We  are  not  in  it  for  the  boosting  or  developing  of  any  one 
department,  but  are  endeavoring  to  relate  all  our  activities  in  such 
a  way  as  to  develop  each  as  it  relates  to  the  whole  task  of  the 
Church.  It  would  be  of  little  value  to  develop  and  enlarge  our 
work  abroad  if  we  did  not  at  the  same  time  develop  a  constituency 
that  would  be  able  to  sustain  it  and  provide  the  equipment  needed 
in  the  way  of  missionaries,  churches,  schools,  hospitals,  etc. 

It  would  be  folly  to  turn  our  resources  toward  home  missionary 
extension  unless  we  were  able  to  house  the  fruitage  and  care  for 
it  after  it  is  gathered.  So  with  our  home  missionary  propaganda 
must  go  the  developing  of  our  Church  Erection  Society  in  order  to 
provide  permanent  and  adequate  places  of  worship. 

All  this  will  be  a  poor  investment  and  of  little  value  unless  we 
have  trained  men  to  put  in  the  pulpits  of  these  churches.  Hence, 
the  importance  of  the  proper  development  of  all  the  training  agen- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  ^1 

cies  of  the  Church.     You  will  readily  see  that  the  task  before  us  is 
a  great  one. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  our  united  work  program  to  present  these 
various  interests  to  the  Church,  not  on  the  basis  of  their  real  needs, 
but  on  the  basis  of  their  needs  as  related  to  the  entire  work  of  the 
Church,  in  the  light  of  the  present  giving  of  the  Church.  This  to- 
gether movement  was  launched  for  the  symmetrical  development  of 
our  denominational  life. 

I.    REASONS    FOR    THE    UNITED   WORK    PROGRAM 

Our  first  task  is  to  get  the  leaders  of  the  Church  to  realize  its 
importance.  The  success  of  this  together  movement  lies  in  the  en- 
listing of  the  key  men  in  the  various  conferences,  both  in  the  laity 
and  ministry.  We  are  anxious  to  have  the  co-operation  of  these 
men,  because  this  plan  will — 

First.  Put  the  benevolent  work  of  the  Church  on  a  stable 
basis.  It  will  prevent  spasmodic  giving  to  any  department,  thereby 
lending  encouragement  for  enlargement  where  there  is  no  basis 
for  it. 

Second.  It  will  unify  our  activities  and  co-ordinate  the  several 
departments  around  the  central  purpose  of  the  Church. 

Third.  It  is  the  most  effective  method  of  securing  the  max- 
imum of  efficiency  with  the  minimum  of  machinery  and  expense. 
It  will  eliminate  the  duplicating  of  agencies  and  correspondence. 

Fourth.  It  will  eventually  mean  a  membership  with  a  vision. 
One  that  is  informed  and  contributing  to  the  entire  benevolent  work 
of  the  Church. 

Fifth.  It  has  for  its  purpose  the  enlisting  of  every  member 
of  the  Church  in  the  support  of  both  the  local  and  general  work. 
This  may  take  years,  but  we  believe  it  is  His  will  and  should  be  done. 

Sixth.  It  will  eventually  mean  the  strengthening  of  every 
organization  connected  with  the  Church.  In  a  sentence,  this  whole 
together  movement  means  the  whole  force  of  the  Church  at  the 
whole  task. 

It  is,  therefore,  of  vital  importance  that  this  Congress  put  this 
movement  before  the  Church  in  such  a  way  that  the  entire  member- 
ship will  have  a  true  conception  of  the  work,  not  as  it  may  appear 
from  the  viewpoint  of  the  general  secretaries,  but  from  that  of 
laymen. 


82  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

II.      ESSENTIALS  TO  THE   LARGEST   SUCCESS 

Here  there  may  be  some  difference  of  opinion,  but  I  am  sure 
that  to  succeed  there  must  be  some  well-thought-out  educational 
policy.  A  policy  broad  enough  to  cover  the  entire  work  of  the 
Church.    There  are  a  few  points  in  which  we  must  be  specific. 

First.  Systematic  instruction  of  the  people  in  Christian  stew- 
ardship. It  is  just  beginning  to  dawn  upon  a  few  of  our  people  that 
we  are  not  owners  of  our  wealth,  but  trustees,  and  what  we  con- 
tribute is  not  ours.  It  is  a  trust  committed  to  us  for  which  we  will 
have  to  render  an  account.  I  tremble  for  the  mass  of  the  church 
members  to-day  in  this  particular. 

Second.  The  world-wide  responsibility  of  each  Christian  in 
making  Christ  known.  Our  vision  will  have  to  be  enlarged.  We 
have  lacked  faith  to  make  plans  large  enough  to  meet  the  greatness 
of  the  task,  or  to  enlist  men  of  large  vision.  So  far  we  have  dealt 
in  the  retail  business  in  the  matter  of  propogating  the  faith.  It  is 
now  time  for  us  to  enter  upon  the  task  on  a  much  larger  scale.  We 
are  living  in  an  age  of  big  things.  The  commercial  world  does  not 
falter  at  big  tasks.  The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  does  not  falter  at 
one  hundred  million  dollars  for  terminal  facilities  in  New  York 
City.  The  great  educational  institutions  of  our  land  ask  for  and 
receive  enormous  sums  for  the  care  of  higher  education.  The  time 
has  come  for  the  Church  to  catch  this  spirit  and  plan  her  work  on  a 
much  larger  scale. 

Third.  An  educational  policy  covering  the  work  and  need  of 
each  of  the  boards  of  the  Church.  This  must  be  pushed  with  vigor, 
securing  the  very  closest  co-operation  of  the  executive  heads  of  the 
various  boards  in  their  educational  propaganda. 

Fourth.  The  next  essential  is  the  work  and  needs  of  the  local 
church.  It  must  have  a  larger  place  in  the  lives  of  many  of  our  fel- 
lows who  see  the  work  of  the  kingdom  in  a  clearer  light  than  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  Church. 

Fifth.  The  fifth  essential  is  a  weekly  offering  for  both  the  cur- 
rent expense  and  benevolent  work  of  the  church.  The  reasons  for 
the  weekly  system  are:  It  is  scriptural,  educational,  business-like, 
promotes  more  prayer,  enlists  more  givers,  replenishes  the  treasury 
regularly,  and  helps  givers  to  realize  how  small  a  portion  of  their 
income  they  really  give. 


Our  Mcji  and  Their  Task  83 

Sixth.  An  annual,  every-member  canvass.  I  know  this  is  ques- 
tioned by  many  who  claim  to  be  up-to-date,  but  I  see  many  advan- 
tai^es  in  an  annual,  every-member  canvass.  There  have  come  to 
our  office  such  reports  of  awakened  interest  as  a  result  of  this  can- 
vass, that  I  am  enthusiastic  in  recommending  it.  The  following 
are  some  reasons  why  it  should  be  made  annually: 

1.  It  intensifies  the  missionary  and  stewardship  campaign  in 
the  local  church,  which  should  be  promoted  annually  at  least. 

2.  It  brings  to  each  individual  anew  his  responsibility  to  the 
Church  and  the  work  his  church  is  promoting. 

3.  It  sends  different  canvassers  to  different  persons,  thereby 
promoting  a  spirit  of  fellowship. 

4.  It  reaches  any  who  have  refused  to  pledge,  or  whose  pledge 
was  inadequate,  also  those  who  have  been  opposed  to  the  plan. 

5.  It  will  enlist  new  members.  Here  many  churches  make 
their  most  serious  blunder.  They  receive  new  members  into  their 
fellowship,  but  fail  to  explain  to  them  their  responsibility  to  the 
Church  and  her  dependencies,  at  a  time  when  the  most  lasting  im- 
pression could  be  made. 

6.  It  discovers  and  develops  many  new  workers.  ]\Iany 
churches  have  found  this  the  greatest  service  of  the  every-member 
canvass. 

7.  It  will  often  reclaim  lapsed  members.  The  pastor  of  a  large 
Lutheran  church  in  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  says  that  by  the  every- 
member  canvass  in  his  church,  two  hundred  lapsed  members  have 
been  restored  to  the  church. 

8.  It  stimulates  church  attendance.  We  have  had  the  most 
encouraging  reports  along  this  line  from  every  section  of  our  own 
Giurch,  where  the  canvass  was  made  last  autumn. 

9.  It  insures  to  each  individual,  at  least  once  a  year,  a  report 
of  the  progress  of  the  work  of  the  Church,  and  at  the  same  time 
gives  an  opportunity  to  answer  objections  that  may  have  arisen 
during  the  year. 

10.  It  is  an  invaluable  spiritual  help  to  the  canvassers.  Many 
most  encouraging  reports  have  been  made  along  this  line. 

III.      AGENCIES  IN  GETTING  THE  JOB  DONE 

The  getting  of  this  thing  done  is  a  man's  job  and  a  job  for  all 
the  year.  The  organization  of  the  Church  should  be  carefully 
planned. 


84  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

First  in  importance  to  success,  I  place  a  pastor  who  leads.  The 
pastor  is  the  key  man  to  the  situation  and  he  should  be  acquainted 
with  the  latest  and  best  methods  of  bringing  missions  and  other  nec- 
essary information  to  the  congregation.  I  leave  for  the  various 
departments  the  telling  of  how  this  can  best  be  done. 

The  Church  as  a  w^hole  must  be  informed  and  aroused.  This 
task  rests  largely  with  the  pastor.'  He  should  remember  that  arous- 
ing the  individual  is  first  of  all  a  spiritual  problem.  The  great 
problems  of  the  Church  will  be  solved  only  as  Christ  is  crowned 
within  the  life  yielded  to  his  service. 

The  pastor  must  direct  the  forces  and  keep  in  constant  touch 
with  all  the  plans  and  methods  which  are  used.  He  may  at  any 
time  have  to  step  to  the  front  and  do  the  work  himself.  He,  above 
all  others,  can  prepare  the  church  for  the  new  plan  by  giving  the 
scriptural  authority  as  well  as  the  needs  of  the  various  boards. 
People  usually  wait  for  the  pastor  to  lead  the  way ;  if  he  is  slow, 
indifferent,  or  comes  to  it  hesitatingly,  he  will  find  the  same  spirit 
in  the  people.  The  success  or  failure  of  the  system  depends  largely 
on  him.  A  personal  letter  setting  forth  the  method  of  procedure 
and  the  needs  of  the  various  boards  will  aid  in  preparing  the  way 
for  the  every-member  canvass. 

Second,  an  official  board  that  co-operates. 

Third,  a  benevolence  committee. 

The  new  plan  of  finance  provides  for  a  benevolence  committee 
in  each  local  church,  who,  in  conjunction  with  the  pastor,  are  to 
arrange  for  the  benevolence  budget  and  provide  for  an  every- 
member  canvass. 

This  committee  should  be  wisely  chosen.  The  most  deeply  in- 
terested persons  who  have  the  elements  of  leadership  should  be 
chosen.  They  should  be  as  representative  as  possible,  men  of  prom- 
inence and  influence.  The  chairman  should  be  a  man  of  wide  in- 
formation and  deep  desire  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  living  a  life 
of  close  communion  with  God.  This  committee  should  have  all 
necessary  data  at  their  command. 

It  would  be  helpful  to  have  a  chart  prepared  for  the  last  con- 
gregational meeting,  indicating  the  following: 

1.  Number  of  members  in  church. 

2.  Number  of  contributing  members  in  church. 

3.  Amount  given  preceding  year  for  current  expense. 

4.  Amount  given  preceding  year  for  missions  in  America. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  85 

5.  Amount  given  preceding-  year  for  missions  abroad. 

6.  Amount  given  preceding  year  for  all  benevolences. 

7.  Per  capita  gifts  for  all  benevolences  provided  for  in  the 
budget. 

It  also  might  be  well  to  have  this  data  written  on  a  card  for 
distribution. 

So  far,  we  have  spoken  only  of  the  organization  needed  to 
carry  forward  our  together  movement ;  to  stop  here  would  provide 
only  the  machinery  necessary.  I  am  constrained  to  ask,  Is  the 
Church  in  her  present  condition  sufficiently  equipped  with  the  ele- 
ments necessary  for  success  ?  Is  she  facing  seriously  the  task  before 
her?    I  am  inclined  to  think  she  is  really  loafing  on  her  job. 

If  the  Edinburgh  conference  had  any  meaning,  it  disclosed 
a  situation  so  serious  that  nothing  less  than  a  tremendous  spiritual 
awakening  will  be  adequate  for  the  present  situation.  It  is  apparent 
that  the  church  has  not  sufficient  force  for  the  tremendous  task  to 
which  it  is  called.  This  situation  may  be  humiliating  to  us  who  are 
leaders,  but  it  should,  nevertheless,  prompt  us  to  heroic  endeavor. 

This  state  of  the  church,  I  fear,  is  the  outgrowth  of  a  disre- 
gard for  the  supernatural.  The  tendency  of  our  day  is  to  brush 
aside  as  antiquated  and  superstitious  amthing  that  cannot  be  ac- 
counted for  from  a  natural  and  scientific  basis.  A  revival  of  faith 
in  the  supernatural  is  needed  in  the  church  of  our  day;  a  revival 
that  will  give  Christ  the  place  of  supremacy  in  our  lives ;  a  revival 
that  will  call  forth  the  consecration  of  our  whole  being  to  God ;  a 
revival  that  will  lead  us  to  live  for  him,  denying  self  and  worldly 
lusts,  living  righteously  and  godly  in  this  present  world ;  a  revival 
that  will  make  his  fellowship  our  highest  joy ;  one  that  will  free  us 
from  sin  and  worldly  ambition,  and  that  will  develop  a  spiritual  at- 
mosphere so  that  Jesus  Christ  may  live  anew  in  the  hearts  of  all 
his  followers,  and  through  them  have  his  life  go  forth  to  all  the 
world.  Nothing  short  of  a  mighty  Pentecostal  awakening  will  en- 
able us  to  attain  the  goal  set  before  us  in  our  together  movement. 


BUSINESS  IN  RELIGION 

BY   L.    O.    MILLER 

A  few  years  ago  I  was  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  to  aid  in  adjusting 
a  church  matter  which  had  gotten  into  the  courts.    As  I  sat  in  the 


86  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

private  office  of  a  member  of  one  of  the  leading  law  firms  of  that 
city,  the  attorney  took  from  the  top  of  his  desk  a  large,  limp-bound, 
topically-arranged  Bible,  and,  pointing  to  a  splendid  law  library, 
said,  "Gentlemen,  here  is  a  book  I  rely  upon  more  than  any  statute 
book  on  those  shelves." 

That  remark  startled  me.  It  started  a  new  trend  of  thought. 
If  a  lawyer  w^ould  place  so  much  dependence  upon  the  Bible  for 
success  in  his  profession,  there  must  be  some  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  laws  of  religion  and  the  laws  of  business.  Why  not 
a  minister  make  some  such  use  of  a  volume  of  Blackstone  to  further 
the  ends  of  his  preaching  and  the  laws  of  applied  Christianity? 

When  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler  was  governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts he  was  accosted  on  the  street  one  day  in  Boston  by  a 
couple  of  gentlemen,  who  said,  "Governor,  we  have  been  arguing 
as  to  who  is  the  greatest  lawyer  in  Massachusetts,  and  we  can't 
agree.  Seeing  we  were  about  to  meet  you,  we  concluded  to  leave 
it  to  you."  "Oh,  that  is  easy,"  said  the  governor,  "I  am  the  great- 
est lawyer  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts."  One  of  the  men  said, 
"Now,  governor,  that  is  all  right,  but  how  are  we  going  to  prove 
it?"  Mr.  Butler  was  really  a  great  lawyer,  and,  being  fully  con- 
versant with  the  rules  of  evidence,  replied,  "Oh,  you  don't  have 
to  prove  it,  I  will  admit  it." 

It  is  only  too  true  that  in  things  religious — especially  religious 
finances — the  church  has  suffered  ignominious  criticism  because  she 
has  neglected  the  plain,  simple  rules  of  practice  that  must  govern 
in  the  business  world.  Like  Governor  Butler,  we  do  not  have  to 
argue  the  case,  we  do  not  have  to  prove  it;  we  are  compelled  to 
admit  it. 

THE  BUSINESS   CREDIT   OF  THE   CHURCH 

Business  credit  is  established  only  by  a  strict  adherence  to 
faithful,  honest,  and  prompt  payment  of  every  financial  obligation. 
The  late  J.  P.  Morgan  said  he  would  risk  loaning  millions  to  the 
progressive,  industrious,  poor  man  who  was  possessed  of  character, 
honesty,  and  promptness,  while  he  would  withhold  the  same  mil- 
lions from  the  millionaire  who  lacked  these  qualities.  The  signif- 
icance of  Mr.  Morgan's  basis  of  credit  extension  is  just  as  certain 
of  application  to  the  church  as  it  is  to  the  individual. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  87 

A  crisis  is  upon  the  United  Brethren  Church.  It  is  passing 
through  a  transition,  and  its  financial  credit  and  honor  are  involved. 
Our  boards  have  planned  large  things  because  of  the  demands  upon 
them  by  the  Church  itself.  Financial  obligations  have  already  been 
assumed  which  must  be  met.  But  how  are  these  obligations  going 
to  be  paid?  How  are  we  going  to  change  conditions  and  bring  a 
new  order  that  will  accomplish  the  desired  result?  Some  of  us 
have  thought  we  knew  the  way  to  do  it.  Statistics  show  that  only 
about  one  in  every  five  of  the  membership  enrollment  of  the  vari- 
ous Protestant  churches  is  actively  and  aggressively  engaged  in 
God's  kingdom  at  home  and  abroad.  The  most  of  us  have  reason 
to  know  that  ratio  will  apply  to  the  United  Brethren  Church.  How 
are  we  to  secure  the  interest  and  co-operation  of  the  present  dor- 
mant energies  of  the  indifferent  four? 

What  would  become  of  an  army  in  battle  if  four  out  of  five 
who  had  sworn  loyalty  to  the  flag  were  to  lie  down  and  cease  to 
fight?  Then,  think  of  a  marching  army  in  which  one  man  out  of 
every  five  had  to  drag  four  along  and  carry  their  burdens  also. 

There  is  something  radically  wrong.  We  must  apply  business 
methods  in  religion,  or  bankruptcy  will  be  the  inevitable  result. 
Listen  to  me,  men.  It  will  not  be  financial  bankruptcy  alone,  but 
something  far  more  serious.  It  will  mean  the  bankruptcy  of  many 
a  human  soul.  Let  me  be  understood  in  this.  I  do  not  mean  to 
emphasize  simply  financial  duty.  The  business  corporation  that 
succeeds  best  is  the  one  whose  entire  working  force  is  in  perfect 
harmony  and  unity  of  action.  I  plead  for  the  co-operation  of  every 
member,  not  so  much  for  the  financial  side — that  is  the  material 
side — but  there  is  something  better,  nobler,  and  higher  that  should 
control  our  purpose  to  enlist  every  member.  It  is  the  spiritual  side, 
and  when  we  have  reached  that  in  its  highest  degree  of  perfection 
we  will  not  need  be  everlastingly  pleading  for  money.  Waken  every 
member  to  feel  a  personal  interest  in  the  salvation  of  the  race,  an 
interest  in  church  work,  for  the  work's  sake,  and  finances  will  take 
care  of  themselves.  Many  are  not  paying  to-day,  not  because  of 
an  inability  to  pay,  but  because  they  are  indifferent,  because  they 
lack  a  keen  interest  in  religion  itself,  and  thus  are  in  danger  of 
spiritual  bankruptcy. 

The  bugle  blasts  have  been  calling  every  man  to  arms  and 
action.     The  cry  has  been  taken  up,  "Onward,  Christian  soldiers, 


88  Gur  Men  and  Their  Task 

marching  as  to  war."  Men  doing  team  work  at  the  annual  confer- 
ence sessions,  and  later  at  conference  institutes,  carried  that  battle 
cry,  and  an  effort  was  made  to  awaken  every  member.  They  have 
continued  to  sing,  and  with  pleading,  "Onward,  then,  ye  people; 
join  our  happy  throng." 

THE  BUDGET  SYSTEM   IS  GOING  ;  DO   NOT  STOP  IT 

The  budget  system  of  finance  will  not  work  automatically,  but 
the  budget  system,  emphasized  by  an  every-member  canvass,  will 
not  only  save  us  from  financial  dishonor,  but  will  put  new  life  into 
many  an  indifferent  heart. 

I  feel  constrained  to  quote  from  a  layman  of  another  church, 
who  said,  'T  believe  the  every-member  canvass  will  secure  the  in- 
terest and  co-operation  of  the  four  not  now  interested  in  the  task, 
as  firmly  as  I  declare  that  *I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty, 
maker  of  heaven  and  earth,'  and  the  rest  of  the  Apostles'  Creed." 

Many  of  us  believe  the  every-member  canvass,  if  carried  intel- 
ligently and  prayerfully  to  every  member,  into  every  home,  will 
solve  the  problem.  The  call  has  been  coming  for  many  years  to 
save  the  heathen  across  the  seas.  That  call  means  to  finance  the 
church  and  the  kingdom  of  God  abroad.  It  is  my  humble  opinion 
that  we  can  never  do  this  in  any  successful  degree  until  we  have 
financed  the  Church  at  home.  But,  the  plan  has  had  a  splendid 
setting.  A  momentum  has  been  gathered  which  we  hope  will  carry 
us  to  victory. 

Not  long  since  a  gentleman  was  in  Boston,  hurrying  on  foot 
to  make  the  South  Boston  Station.  He  approached  a  colored  coach- 
man, and  said,  "Can  you  get  me  to  South  Boston  in  ten  minutes  ?" 
"No,  sah,  I  fear  not,  mistah.  Dis  am  an  oV  a'my  boss."  "An  old 
army  horse!"  exclaimed  the  pedestrian,  "Let  me  get  in  and  take 
the  lines."  Acting  upon  the  impulse,  he  seated  himself,  grasped  the 
lines,  and  in  an  emphatic  tone  exclaimed,  "Charge!"  Down  the 
street  flew  that  steed,  and  in  a  little  less  than  ten  minutes  they  were 
at  the  station.  "Halt!"  cried  the  traveler,  and  the  horse  obeyed. 
The  gentleman  tossed  a  coin  to  the  driver  as  he  jumped  out  over 
the  wheel  to  make  his  train.  A  few  days  later  the  same  driver  was 
accosted  by  a  gentleman  who  named  his  destination  and  asked  if 
he  could  drive  him  there  in  fifteen  minutes.  "I  think  I  can,  sah. 
Get  in."    Then  came  again,  but  this  time  from  the  coachman,  the 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  89 

well-remembered  command,  "Charge !"  and  away  the  animal  went 
at  splendid  speed.  Reaching  the  destination,  the  driver  became 
confused,  and  turning  to  his  patron  said,  ''Mistah,  you  will  have  to 
jump  while  we  is  goin' ;  I  forgot  the  w^ord  that  means  stop."  We 
have  made  the  charge.    Let  us  all  forget  the  word  "Halt." 

There  may  be  those  who  will  oppose  the  plan,  but  many  have 
said  that  it  is  the  right  plan.  If  men  will  deliberately  lie  down  be- 
fore the  chariot  of  progress,  then  it  becomes  a  question  of  either 
stopping  the  chariot  or  running  the  risk  of  an  accident  or  a  fatality. 
In  such  event,  would  we  not  be  justified  in  the  risk  of  its  being  only 
a  slight  accident? 

RELEASE  PASTORS  FOR  GREATER  EFFICIENCY 

One-third  of  the  efficiency  of  the  pastors  of  our  Church  and 
a  number  of  others,  is  spent  in  bondage  to  financial  necessities. 
Let  us  plan  in  some  manner,  by  more  systematic  methods,  better 
organized  efforts,  to  have  the  active,  business  laymen  change  con- 
ditions and  release  the  entire  pastoral  efficiency  to  the  ministry  and 
the'  work  to  which  God  has  called  him.  Give  him  a  chance  for 
better  preparation  of  his  message  for  the  Lord's  Day,  and  for  bet- 
ter service  among  the  sick,  and  better  still,  that  he  may  have  more 
time  to  save  our  boys  and  girls  before  sin  has  so  hardened  them  that 
the  church  may  never  get  them. 

Many  denominations  have  been  asking  in  recent  years,  why 
there  is  such  slow  numerical  growth.  Is  it  not  possible  that  one 
strong  factor  in  this  problem  is  that  ministers  have  been  spending 
too  much  time  in  raising  benevolences  and  budgets,  rather  than  do- 
ing the  work  for  which  they  were  ordained? 

Recently  I  read  this  epigram,  in  bold-faced  type,  on  the  front 
cover  of  a  business  magazine,  "Go  to  work  every  day  as  though  it 
was  your  first  day  on  the  job  and  you  had  to  make  good."  What 
a  world  of  meaning  in  that  brief  epigram.  Induce  every  church 
member  to  apply  this  in  Christian  toil  and  service,  and  see  what 
a  revelation  will  come. 

A   BIT   OF    OFFICE    EXPERIENCE 

Permit  me  to  give  you  a  bit  of  office  experience,  and  bring  to 
you  something  of  a  realizing  sense  of  what  it  means  to  the  man  who 
handles  your  general  benevolences.    About  a  fortnight  ago  the  tele- 


90  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

phone  bell  on  my  desk  rang,  and  this  message  was  given  me  by  one 
of  the  banks  of  the  city,  "We  have  a  draft  on  you  for  five  thousand 
dollars."  A  few  days  later  another  telephone  call  announced,  "We 
have  a  draft  on  you  for  eighteen  hundred  pounds — eight  thousand, 
seven  hundred  and  sixty-six  dollars."  Only  a  few  minutes  later, 
another,  "We  have  a  draft  on  you  from  the  United  Brethren  Mis- 
sions for  two  thousand  dollars." 

Those  drafts  had  come  from  across  the  seas  on  the  strength 
of  letters  of  credit  on  file  with  banking  institutions  in  foreign  lands. 
They  had  to  be  paid,  and  before  three  o'clock,  or  go  to  protest. 
If  you  good  fellows  think  it  a  happy  sensation  to  have  such  a  mes- 
sage hit  you  every  little  while,  with  all  the  other  demands  upon  a 
meager  treasury,  then  accept  the  treasurership,  and  see  how  soon 
your  nerves  will  be  at  their  highest  tension,  and  your  nights  be 
nights  of  nightmare,  nights  of  many  an  anxious,  sleepless  hour. 

Not  a  day  passes  but  that  a  signature  is  attached  to  checks 
which  deplete  the  bank  balance,  often  in  the  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands. 

The  membership  of  the  United  Brethren  Church  is  not  doing 
its  duty.  We  have  lots  of  company,  to  be  sure,  but  the  one  prob- 
lem for  us  is  our  own.  The  fault  is  not  our  inability  to  do,  but 
the  lack  of  a  quickened  conscience.  Our  people  have  the  means ; 
they  need  education  and  information.  We  have  a  membership  of 
over  three  hundred  thousand,  and  all  we  have  asked  of  them  for 
general  benevolences  is  $225,000.  I  can  name  three  single  churches 
in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  with  a  total  membership  of  less  than  two 
thousand,  which  have  that  much  invested  in  their  church  buildings. 
Tell  me  not  that  $225,000  is  the  limit  of  the  ability  of  this  denom- 
ination for  its  general  benevolences.  But  listen !  Even  this  sum  is 
not  forthcoming  as  it  should  be.  We  are  facing  retrenchment  in 
every  department.  We  must  not  permit  it.  We  owe  a  duty  to  a 
portion  of  the  human  race.  God  is  coming  some  day — we  know 
not  how  soon — to  claim  this  world  and  call  it  to  judgment. 

Brethren,  conference  superintendents,  and  laymen,  I  appeal  to 
you  to  help  save  the  credit  and  honor  of  our  Qiurch.  Systematic 
giving  and  systematic  remitting,  every  month,  and  every  dollar  due 
the  general  treasury  is  the  only  thing  that  will  save  the  thousands 
now  spent  as  interest  on  loans. 


Onr  Men  and  Their  Task  91 

The  gospel  chariot  wheels  need  constant  lubrication.  The  cost 
of  oil,  like  almost  everything  else,  is  increasing,  but  God  demands 
the  toll,  the  tithe.  Apply  the  one  business  principle  of  God's  king- 
dom, tithing,  in  religion,  and  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the  Chris- 
tian churches  will  produce  a  gospel  dynamo  that  will  send  a  reli- 
gious current  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 

Be  diligent,  be  faithful  in  your  service,  enlightening  your  peo- 
ple, that  the  storehouse  may  be  filled,  and  we  do  our  part  in  bring- 
ing the  world  to  our  Lord. 


RESULTS  INADEQUATE  TO  OPPORTUNITIES  AND 
RESOURCES 

BY   EDWIN    L.    SHUEY 

The  subject  for  this  study  suggests  that  certain,  definite  re- 
sults are  expected  of  the  Christian  church,  and  particularly  of  our 
part  of  it.  The  question  just  now  is  not  so  much,  "Is  the  Christian 
church  doing  what  it  ought  to  do  to  obey  the  Master's  com- 
mand," but  'Ts  the  United  Brethren  denomination — a  clearly 
organized  part  of  the  kingdom,  with  more  than  one  hundred  years 
of  endeavor  behind  it,  and  with  more  than  three  hundred  thousand 
members  within  its  congregations — doing  its  work  in  such  a  way 
that  the  Master  may  commend  it,  and  using  its  power  as  should 
be  expected  of  such  a  company  of  Christian  people  ?" 

The  theme  given  also  suggests  that  these  results  are  to  bg 
measured  by  the  opportunities  before  us  and  the  resources  behind 
us,  and  intimates  that  we  have  not  done  our  duty — have  not  ob- 
tained the  results  that  fairly  might  be  expected  of  us.  The  study 
is  to  be  largely  one  of  our  own  Church,  not  because  we  are  worse 
or  better  than  others,  but  because  this  is  a  self-study,  in  which  there 
is  little  time  for  comparison  with  other  organizations  seeking  to  do 
work  similar  to  ours ;  of  some  of  the  opportunities  you  have  been 
hearing  constantly — they  are  at  every  hand,  calling  us  to  grasp 
them.     I  need  not  even  mention  them. 

RESULTS  TO  BE  EXPECTED  OF  THE   CHURCH 

What  are  the  results  for  which  the  Master  and  the  world  have 
a  right  to  look  in  our  Church  life  and  work  ?    May  we  not  say,  first. 


92  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

that  it  may  be  expected  that  the  Church  will  lead  the  world  to  be- 
lieve that  "God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have 
everlasting  life"?  The  world  will  believe  this  only  as  his  followers 
repeat  the  teachings  of  Jesus  and  practice  them  in  their  business ; 
and  the  business  of  Christian  men  is  not  simply  farming  or  mer- 
chandising or  manufacturing  or  professions — Christian  men  should 
do  these  things  only  to  pay  expenses ;  their  real  work  should  be  car- 
rying the  gospel  of  the  IMaster  to  all  the  world  and  being  witnesses 
to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  beginning  at  Jerusalem  and  Ju- 
dea,  but  staying  there  only  long  enough  to  be  endued  with  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

As  Bishop  McDowell  has  so  graphically  expressed  it,  "It  is  not 
simply  a  changed  religion,  but  a  changed  life  that  the  world  needs, 
in  Christendom  and  out  of  Christendom."  This  was  the  burden  of 
our  Savior's  message  and  this  must  be  the  burden  of  the  Church's 
message  to-day.    Is  it? 

Another  result  that  may  fairly  be  expected  is  that  the  church — 
meaning  Christian  ministers,  business  men,  professional  men,  arti- 
sans, all,  individually  and  as  an  organization — so  fully  permeate 
every  side  of  life  in  our  own  country  that  men  at  home  and  abroad 
recognize  its  earnest,  intelligent,  sympathetic,  Christ-like  influence 
in  the  industrial,  social,  educational,  moral,  and  political  questions 
of  our  time — that  the  world  really  recognizes  us  as  a  Christian 
nation.    Are  we  doing  it? 

Do  men  to-day  look  to  the  church — b\-  this  I  mean  men  and 
women  of  our  churches — for  leadership  in  the  great  social,  phil- 
anthropic, and  civic  movements  ?  Are  we,  as  a  united  church,  doing 
our  duty  in  the  temperance  question ;  in  the  teaching  of  foreigners 
in  our  cities ;  in  the  study  and  solution  of  the  questions  of  labor — 
not  labor  and  capital,  for  in  our  country  it  is  labor  for  all ;  in  the 
evils  arising  from  false  relations  of  men  and  women;  in  the  home 
and  family  ideals  that  must  be  maintained ;  in  the  training  and 
higher  education  of  our  youth  to  strong  faith  and  active  partici- 
pation in  the  afifairs  of  the  community  in  which  they  are  placed? 
If  not,  and  you  know  how  often  we  are  charged  with  failure,  then 
in  this  country  of  ours  are  the  results  inadequate  to  our  oppor- 
tunities and  we  are  failing  in  our  tasks. 

More  than  this,  and  most  important  of  all,  because  funda- 
mentally, God  himself  has  a  right  to  expect  of  us,  his  followers,  such 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  93 

a  faith  in  his  promises  as  will  prove  our  claim  to  be  his  sons.  Are 
we  trusting  him  by  our  prayers?  Are  we  a  church  of  praying 
men?  Are  we  ready  to  prove  God  by  bringing  into  his  storehouse 
all  our  tithes?  What  are  our  beautiful  homes  and  comforts  if  they 
are  ours  at  the  cost  of  obedience  to  his  will  ?  What  are  our  great 
temples,  calling  men  to  the  church,  if  they  are  built  at  the  cost  of 
the  Christian  training  our  children  should  have  in  our  colleges,  of 
the  missionaries  who  should  be  carrying  the  messages  given  us  by 
Jesus  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  or  the  church  or  school  or  shop  that 
should  stand  in  any  one  of  the  thousand  places  in  the  land  that  is 
ours  to  reclaim  for  God?    Ave  we  trusting  him — working  for  him? 

In  short,  whether  we  will  or  not,  the  church  is  to-day  being 
measured  by  its  ability  to  take  a  broad  and  wise  part  in  the  man- 
agement and  readjustment  of  the  world  relations.  This  is  our 
opportunity.  Are  we  as  United  Brethren  taking  our  part  in  doing 
what  three  hundred  thousand  earnest  followers  of  Christ  ought 
to  do? 

Am  I  wrong  in  believing  that  until  we  have  put  all  our  ma- 
terial as  well  as  our  spiritual  life  before  him  we  are  not  as  a  Church 
doing  his  work  or  assuring  such  results  in  his  kingdom  as  God  and 
man  have  a  right  to  demand  of  his  church? 

SOME   FIGURES  TO   MAKE   US  THINK 

For  attaining  such  results,  what  are  our  resources  and  how  are 
we  using  them?  One  hundred  years  ago  the  United  Brethren  in 
Christ  were  10,000  people ;  40  years  later  they  were  47,000  people ; 
in  1893  they  were  208,000;  in  1903,  252,000,  and  ten  years  later, 
310,000,  scattered  throughout  this  entire  country,  with  a  fair  rep- 
resentation in  the  great  non-Christian  lands  of  Africa,  China,  Japan, 
and  the  Philippines.  In  the  last  ten  years  our  growth  was  twenty- 
three  per  cent.  What  would  a  business  man  say  whose  business 
grew  only  two  per  cent,  per  year  ? 

If  we  may  measure  the  income  of  the  membership  in  our 
Church  as  is  usually  done  in  this  country,  the  material  income  of 
United  Brethren  last  year  was  at  least  sixty  millions  of  dollars, 
one-tenth  of  which  at  least  belongs  to  the  Lord.  How  far  short  of 
six  millions  have  we  come? 

In  1913  we  had  3,244  church  buildings,  not  so  many  as  we 
had  ten  years  ago,  but  their  value  had  grown  from  $6,318,000  to 


94  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

$11,636,000,  an  increase  of  eighty-four  per  cent.  Evidently,  we 
liave  grown  rich  and  proud  in  material  things. 

In  1893,  we  had  1,649  ministers,  to  whom  we  paid  $573,000 
and  added  $469,000  for  local  church  expenses,  making  an  average 
of  $5.01  for  each  member  of  the  Church  to  keep  up  our  home  base. 
In  1903,  we  had  1,990  ministers,  to  whom  we  paid  $780,000  salary 
and  added  $652,000  for  churcb  expenses,  a  total  of  $1,432,700  for 
local  leadership  and  expenses,  or  $5.68  for  each  member — a  growth 
of  eleven  per  cent.  Ten  years  later,  in  1913,  we  had  1,969  ministers, 
a  smaller  number  than  ten  years  before.  They  received  $1,113,000 
in  salaries  (55  per  cent,  increase)  ;  we  added  $1,120,000  for  church 
expenses,  a  total  of  $2,229,000  (55  per  cent,  increase),  exclusive  of 
our  foreign  work,  or  $7.30  per  member — an  increase  of  twenty- 
eight  per  cent,  in  ten  years. 

A  study  of  a  few  of  our  larger  conferences  makes  some  of 
these  statistics  even  more  noticeable.  One  of  our  largest  confer- 
ences has  fewer  church  houses  in  1913  than  ten  years  before,  but 
its  church  property  has  increased  in  value  nearly  125  per  cent. 
Another,  which  has  increased  its  church  buildings  only  three  per 
cent.,  has  almost  doubled  the  value  of  the  churches.  Still  another, 
not  far  from  where  we  are  met,  which  has  increased  the  number  of 
its  church  houses  eleven  per  cent.,  has  increased  their  value  118 
per  cent.  The  conference  which  shows  the  largest  increase  in  num- 
ber of  new  church  buildings,  having  added  83  per  cent,  in  ten 
years,  has  increased  their  value  209  per  cent.  All  this  is  commend- 
able, if  along  with  the  increase  of  assets  there  has  been  a  corres- 
ponding increase  in  provision  for  carrying  out  the  direct  command- 
ments of  the  Master.  Let  no  one  quote  the  writer  as  objecting  to 
any  of  these  amounts.  Let  us  make  them  greater  where  needed, 
but  do  not  make  the  needy  in  Africa,  China,  or  Japan  pay  for  them. 

If  in  this  church  business  we  are  increasing  our  capital,  both 
material  and  personal,  it  may  be  expected  that  we  will  increase  our 
income,  which  means,  naturally,  those  who  are  a  part  of  the  king- 
dom.    Are  we  doing  it? 

In  1913,  five  hundred  and  sixty  churches,  some  of  them  among 
our  large  churches,  received  one  member  each  on  profession  of 
faith.  Two  hundred  and  sixty-two  churches  show  a  decrease  in 
membership.  Four  hundred  and  seventy-nine  congregations  had  no 
accessions  on  profession  of  faith.     In  the  year  preceding,  one  hun- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  95 

drcd  and  sevenly-nlne  congregations,  with  twenty  thousand  mem- 
bers, did  not  add  a  single  member  on  profession  of  faith,  and  these 
were  not  all  of  them  among  the  small  congregations.  In  the  same 
year  four  hundred  and  eighty-five  congregations,  one-eighth  of  all 
our  number,  with  seventy  thousand  members,  representing  three- 
tenths  of  all  our  membership,  had  less  than  ten  additions  each  on 
profession  of  faith  during  the  entire  year.  Do  we  wonder,  then, 
that  in  the  last  year  21,690  members  were  lost,  even  though  we  had 
a  net  increase  of  7,428  members?  Included  in  these  lists  are  some 
of  our  largest  congregations — prosperous,  generous — but,  men,  are 
the  results  such  as  our  Father  can  approve  ? 

With  a  view  to  securing  real  results  in  our  work,  we  have  our 
church  departments.  How  are  these  resources  of  ours  being  used 
for  them,  and  how  generous  are  we  in  meeting  the  commandment 
of  the  Master  as  compared  with  the  care  we  give  to  ourselves  ? 

Begin  with  that  which  comes  nearest  to  us,  the  Sunday  school. 
We  have  to-day  139  schools  fewer  than  ten  years  ago,  but  there  is 
an  increase  of  118,000  in  number  of  pupils.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
past  year  shows  a  decrease  of  seven  Sunday  schools  and  of  14,400 
scholars.  To  support  the  work  of  this  department  of  the  Church 
we  are  to-day  expending  an  average  of  2.5  cents  per  member  per 
year,  less  than  half  the  cost  of  a  single  week's  favorite  paper;  yet 
this  is  the  foundation  upon  which  the  church  of  the  future  must  be 
built,  and  the  church  whose  Sunday  schools  are  small  and  decreas- 
ing can  hardly  hope  to  find  an  increased  power  in  the  generation  to 
come.  Do  we  mean  what  we  say  when  we  urge  the  proper  training 
of  children  and  youth  in  Bible  knowledge? 

Not  less  important  than  other  departments  is  that  of  assist- 
ance to  new  organizations  and  new  churches.  In  1912  and  1913 
we  gave  to  our  Church  Erection  Society  $15,467,  while  in  the  year 
just  closed  we  have  given  only  $12,600,  about  4.6  cents  per  member 
per  year — the  cost  of  a  single  ride  on  a  street  car  in  one  of  our 
cities.  It  would  require,  so  the  secretary  tells  us,  $60,000  more  to 
supply  the  demands  of  this  year  alone.  And  while  giving  this  $12,- 
600  for  the  General  Board,  we  have  kept  $18,600  for  our  "Con- 
ference Extension"  funds,  which  looks  much  like  narrowing  our 
view  and  encouraging  ''Conference  Church  Selfishness." 

One  of  the  broadest  and  most  far-reaching  of  all  the  Church 
activities  is  our  educational  work.    Are  we  supporting  our  colleges. 


96  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

our  educational  institutions  of  every  grade,  our  Seminary,  as  they 
ought  to  be  supported?  Are  we  really  in  earnest  in  looking  for  re- 
sults in  education?  Why  do  we  not  hear  more  about  a  goal  for 
educational  work?  Why  is  it  that  so  often  nothing  is  said  by 
Bishops  or  Conference  Superintendents  regarding  the  needs  of  our 
colleges  in  our  Church  life  ?  It  is  difficult  to  secure  exact  facts, 
but  it  looks  as  if  we  thought  that  the  price  of  a  glass  of  soda  water 
or  a  good  cigar  was  enough  for  each  of  us  to  spend  per  year  for 
Christian  education,  for  our  average  through  our  conferences  last 
year  was  eight  cents  per  member.  How^  eager  we  are  to  protect 
and  educate!  Is  it  not  true  that  without  our  colleges  in  the  past 
twenty-five  years  we  would  have  been  almost  without  missionaries 
for  our  fields  at  home  and  abroad  ?  What  would  we  do  to-day  with 
out  the  fire  and  devotion  of  the  volunteers  in  all  our  institutions, 
and  what  hope  is  there  for  the  future  of  our  Church  if  we  do  not 
put  into  this  department  greater  zeal,  more  of  our  material  wealth, 
and  more  of  our  spiritual  life? 

And  what  are  we  doing  with  these  resources  of  ours  to  def- 
initely fulfill  the  Master's  commission  to  be  witnesses  to  the  end  of 
the  earth  ?  In  1893,  we  gave  $73,000  for  Home  and  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, an  average  of  thirty-five  cents  per  member.  In  1905,  the  year 
of  the  separation  of  the  two  boards,  we  gave  $90,000,  the  average 
remaining  the  same — thirty-five  cents  per  member.  In  1909,  the 
year  of  the  largest  gifts,  the  amount  was  $164,000,  an  average  of 
fifty-seven  cents  per  member.  Then,  as  if  weary,  in  1912  we  gave 
$144,000,  an  average  of  forty-six  cents  per  member,  and  in  the  year 
just  closed  we  have  even  fallen  below  this. 

Note,  then,  that  when  we  were  spending  $5.01  per  member  for 
the  ''home  base,"  on  the  principle  that  we  need  a  strong  home  foun- 
dation to  make  possible  the  missionary  effort,  we  gave  thirty-five 
cents  per  member  to  extend  the  kingdom  outside  of  our  own  con- 
gregations. 

As  we  increase  our  home  resources,  ought  not  the  Master  to 
expect  us  to  increase  our  effort  for  his  kingdom  at  large?  In  1913, 
we  spent  $7.30  per  member  for  ourselves,  an  increase  of  forty- 
eight  per  cent.,  and  we  spent  forty-six  cents  per  member  on  the 
whole  world  about  us,  an  increase  of  thirty-one  per  cent  in  ten 
years.     Do  we  think  we  are  obeying  Christ's  commandment  when 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  97 

we  use  our  resources  in  this  way  ?    Are  we  honest  or  only  pretend- 
ing to  believe  in  missions? 

CONCLUSIONS 

Do  not  think,  I  beg  of  you,  that  I  am  unmindful  of  the  great 
work  done  by  our  Church  as  a  denomination  in  all  its  years  of 
history,  or  that  I  have  not  given  due  regard  to  the  growth  and  to 
the  thousands  of  saved  men.  You  and  I  know  that  if  the  only  per- 
son saved  in  many  of  these  churches  in  a  year  was  our  boy,  we 
would  think  it  was  a  good  year's  work. 

I  thank  God  for  the  thousands  brought  to  know  Jesus  through 
our  Sunday  schools ;  for  the  Christian  training  in  our  Church  insti- 
tutions of  learning;  for  the  growing  power  of  brotherhood  in  all 
the  denomination,  and  its  increasing  realization  of  its  place  in  the 
social  problems  of  our  day ;  for  the  new  fields  opened  and  the  new 
temples  built,  for  every  one  is  an  added  evidence  of  faith;  and  I 
praise  God  for  the  triumphs  of  the  gospel  at  home  and  abroad. 
Every  step  is  an  evidence  of  the  truth  of  our  religion. 

But  may  I  say  frankly,  yet  kindly,  sincerely  and  regretfully, 
that  I  believe  that  a  business  house  which  did  not  show  larger  re- 
turns for  the  investment  and  labor  put  into  it  than  does  our  denom- 
ination and  others,  would  be  put  into  the  hands  of  an  expert  on 
efficiency  to  make  good  plans  for  its  conduct. 

We  are  no  longer  a  poor  Church;  God  has  blessed  the  mem- 
bers of  this  denomination  in  material  things.  We  are  no  longer  a 
weak  Church ;  three  hundred  thousand  active,  determined  Christians 
are  no  mean  factor  in  the  Christian  army.  We  are  no  more,  if  we 
ever  were,  a  provincial  Church,  for  we  are  represented  in  every 
part  of  our  native  land  and  in  the  great  fields  God  has  given  us 
to  cultivate. 

If  this  be  true,  can  we  longer  stand  before  our  God  doing  less 
than  he  has  the  right  to  expect  of  us?  Is  giving  two  or  three  or 
five  or  even  ten  per  cent,  of  our  increase  each  year  returning  to  the 
Lord  that  which  he  has  given  ?  Is  adding  to  our  number  five  thou- 
sand, ten  thousand,  twenty  thousand,  or  thirty  thousand  each  year 
an  adequate  expression  of  our  earnestness,  even  assuming  that  all 
these  are  brought  for  the  first  time  to  acknowledge  Jesus  Christ 
as  Savior  and  Lord  ?  Is  sending  out  annually  a  half-dozen  or  more 
missionaries  into  the  frontier  or  foreign  field,  which  we  acknowl- 


98  On7'  Men  and  Their  Task 

edge  as  our  parish,  a  real  attempt  to  fulfill  divine  commandments? 
Are  we  through  all  these  organizations,  so  well  manned,  in  any 
true  sense,  meeting  our  obligation  to  the  kingdom  and  taking  our 
part  in  training  our  youth  and  manhood  and  womanhood  in  Chris- 
tian life? 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  long  upon  the  question  of  respon- 
sibility for  results,  or  lack  of  them — the  more  important  question 
is  as  to  our  duty  and  the  true  means  of  improvement.  In  passing 
I  may  say  that  I  believe  that  the  first  responsibility  lies  with  the 
ministers,  from  Bishops  to  the  youngest  pastor,  that  they  do  not 
more  fully  instruct  and  enlist  the  people.  Whether  we  acknowl- 
edge it  or  not,  we  laymen  are  largely  influenced  by  our  pastors  and 
leaders,  and  follow  their  training  and  example.  Too  many  pastors 
limit  their  horizon  by  their  congregation  or  their  conference  instead 
of  lifting  up  their  eyes  to  see  the  whole  field  already  white  to  the 
harvest. 

None  the  less  do  I  believe  that  as  great  responsibility  for  fail- 
ure lies  with  the  laity,  for  in  this  day  they  have  no  excuse  for 
neglecting  to  know  their  duty,  and  in  this  manner  we  are  allowing 
ourselves  to  be  influenced  by  the  doubt  and  selfishness  and  love  of 
ease  and  luxury  that  exists  not  alone  in  our  cities,  but  also  in  our 
towns  and  country.  We  know  our  duty — woe  to  us  that  we  do  it 
not. 

But  I  cannot  close  without  suggesting  what  has  grown  to  be  a 
deep  conviction  in  my  own  mind  and  heart  regarding,  not  only  our 
own  work,  but  that  of  all  other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  You  will 
recall  that  Dr.  John  R.  Mott  reminds  us  that  the  great  need  is  not 
more  money,  not  more  organization,  not  even  more  workers — that 
"the  fundamental  need  is  more  Christlike  intercessors."  "It  is  my 
belief,"  says  he,  "two  hundred  men — yes,  one  hundred  men — of 
pure  heart,  unselfish  motive,  and  unwavering  faith  in  the  integrity, 
omnipotence,  love,  and  present-day  working  of  the  living  God, 
could  through  intercession  usher  in  an  era  like  unto  that  vital  age, 
the  age  of  apostolic  Christianity." 

What  would  come  to  our  Church  if  the  hundreds  of  men  gath- 
ered here  went  out  from  this  sacred  occasion  to  become  every  man 
of  us  a  new  man  of  prayer?  If  seeing  our  shortcomings  and  re- 
penting of  them,  taking  God  at  his  word  of  promise  that  he  will 
abundantly  answer  those  who  come  to  him,  we  turn  from  our  self- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  99 

reliance  and  become  indeed  a  Church  of  praying  men,  how  will  he 
not  use  us  in  the  salvation  of  men  and  the  extension  of  his  kingdom  ? 

And  for  what  shall  we  pray?  Not  that  God  will  make  us  a 
Qfreat  denomination  in  numbers  and  in  wealth ;  not  that  we  mav 
have  an  organization  to  be  compared  with  those  of  the  larger  de- 
nominations whose  methods  we  are  too  often  inclined  to  imitate ;  but 
that  he  will  make  us  a  company  of  devoted,  consecrated,  self-sac- 
rificing Christians,  working  for  the  coming  of  the  whole  kingdom 
and  willing  to  give  life  and  all  for  its  hastening;  and  these  prayers 
will  go  up  not  only  in  our  churches  and  our  great  gatherings,  but 
in  our  homes,  in  the  secret  places  of  our  lives,  on  our  farms,  in  our 
stores  and  offices — all  of  which  will  thus  become  consecrated  to  his 
service. 

When  we  have  come  to  pray,  to  be  real  intercessors,  when  we 
have  the  vision  which  such  intercession  brings  of  the  world  to  be 
brought  to  Jesus  Christ,  then  we  will  forget  our  self-interests  and 
our  congregational,  or  conference,  or  district  boundary  lines,  and 
then  we  will  have  strength  and  wisdom  adequate  to  our  opportun- 
ities and  to  our  resources,  as  well  as  to  the  tasks  that  fall  to  us  as 
a  part  of  the  working  force  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 


A  MESSAGE  FROM  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL 

CPIURCH 

BY   0.    F.    HYPES 

My  brethren,  it  is  a  great  pleasure  and  privilege  to  be  able  to 
salute  you  this  afternoon  on  behalf  of  your  brethren  of  the  ]\Ieth- 
odist  Episcopal  Church. 

Occasions  such  as  this  Congress,  that  brings  you  together  to- 
day, is  not  only  educational  and  inspiring,  but  one  of  the  most  hope- 
ful signs  of  the  times — men  from  every  walk  in  life,  leaving  their 
daily  rounds  of  duties ;  some  of  you  traveling  great  distances,  com- 
mg  together  that  you  may  consider  the  things  that  make  for  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  to  study  ways  and  means  how  you  can  render 
larger  service  to  your  Creator  and  to  your  Church  and  how  you 
may  enlist  the  men  outside  of  the  Church.  Upon  a  similar  mission, 
your  Methodist  brethren  met  in  the  city  of  Indianapolis. 


100  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

Part  of  the  policy  adopted  there  contemplates  a  program  of 
personal  evangelism  in  all  lines,  especially  an  annual  minimum  in- 
crease of  ten  per  cent,  in  every  church.  It  seeks  further  to  render 
larger  social  service  in  every  community,  and  to  inspire  the  spirit 
of  stewardship  that  you  have  been  talking  about  so  much  this  after- 
noon. Of  course,  it  provides,  too,  for  the  every-member  canvass 
and  the  weekly  offerings,  the  duplex  envelope  system,  and  all  that. 
And  do  you  know  John  Wesley  outlined  this  whole  plan  a  great 
many  years  ago  ?  The  rules  that  he  laid  down  for  his  societies  were 
these,  "All  at  it,  always  at  it,  altogether  at  it."  All  at  it,  the  every- 
member  canvass ;  always  at  it,  the  weekly  offering ;  altogether  at 
it,  the  enlarged  results  that  come  from  unity  of  eft'ort  all  along  the 
line. 

The  Methodist  program  contemplates  a  campaign  of  education 
all  along  the  line  of  church  activities.  It  purposes  to  lay  upon  the 
heart  of  the  church  its  vital  relation  to  the  social,  to  the  civic,  to  the 
industrial,  to  the  educational,  and  to  the  great  missionary — not  prob- 
lems— but  opportunities  of  our  day.  For  that  purpose  they  have  en- 
listed the  press.  The  press  of  Methodism  is  now  more  efficient,  more 
largely  circulated  and  read  than  ever  before  in  its  history.  I  heard 
one  of  your  speakers  saying  something  about  the  lack  of  subscrip- 
tions to  the  Religions  Telescope.  I  wouldn't  give  very  much  for  the 
loyalty  of  a  church  man  who  didn't  take  his  church  paper.  Did 
you  ever  look  through  a  telescope — through  the  wrong  end  of  the 
telescope?  If  you  didn't,  perhaps  you  have  looked  through  a  pair 
of  opera  glasses.  If  you  look  at  a  dollar  through  a  pair  of  opera 
glasses,  you  will  see  the  full-sized  dollar,  but  you  reverse  the  opera 
glasses  and  look  at  that  dollar  at  the  other  end,  and  how  small  and 
shriveled  up  it  becomes.  I  thought,  as  I  sat  here  and  heard  your 
speakers,  how  your  Religions  Telescope  not  only  sweeps  the  States 
of  America,  but  reaches  out  over  this  whole  world,  and  what  it 
receives  on  its  lens  it  sends  out  to  you  men.  How  are  you  going 
to  meet  the  opportunities  that  are  presented,  if  you  are  going  to 
reverse  the  telescope  and  look  at  it  through  the  other  end? 

I  want  to  speak  just  a  moment  as  to  our  financial  plan.  At  the 
last  session  the  General  Conference  created  the  Commission  on 
Finance.  That  commission  is  represented  on  its  membership  by 
members  from  the  various  benevolent  boards.  They  secure  the 
reports  of  all  these  benevolent  boards,  classify,  condense,  and  send 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  101 

them  out  to  the  churches  through  the  conference,  by  districts  and 
churches.  Co-operating  with  this  Commission  on  Finance  are  rep- 
resentatives from  the  Board  of  Bishops  and  the  Laymen's  Mission- 
ary Movement.  Added  to  this  body,  or  bureau,  are  some  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty  superintendents,  and,  the  most  important  factor  of 
all,  the  local  pastors.  In  the  last  analysis,  brethren,  however  im- 
portant it  is  for  you  men  to  get  back  of  all  these  movements  that 
have  been  outlined  here  to-day,  isn't  it  true  that  the  activity  of  the 
average  church  is  going  to  be  gauged  very  largely  by  the  zeal  and 
the  spirit  and  labor  of  the  minister  in  charge? 


A   MESSAGE   FROM   THE   METHODIST   PROTESTANT 

CHURCH 

BY   C.   H.  HUBBLE 

This  crowd  looks  good  to  me.  It  is  a  sure  sign  of  the  efficiency 
of  the  United  Brethren  Church.  And  if  by  any  stretch  of  your 
imagination  I  can  look  as  good  to  you,  I  will  be  abundantly  satis- 
fied and  gratified. 

What  I  have  to  say  regarding  the  purpose  and  principles  of  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church  regarding  benevolences  will  be  in 
a  figure.  We  are  entitled  to  call  the  church  the  body  of  Christ.  A 
body  must  have  a  brain  and  a  mind.  I  think  sometimes,  in  our 
zeal,  we  have  forgotten  that  the  body  has  a  mind,  and  when  a  man 
is  really  saved,  I  think  he  is  saved  clear  through,  I  think  a  man 
that  has  religion  in  the  right  way  has  better  sense  than  the  man 
who  has  not.  I  think  a  man  that  is  saved  has  more  sense  after  he 
is  saved  than  he  had  before,  and  I  think  this  fact  is  an  ample  guar- 
antee and  ample  authorization  for  the  educational  system  that  you 
have  in  your  Church  and  which  we  have  in  our  own. 

In  the  second  place,  the  body  must  have  not  only  mind,  but 
hands  and  feet.  What  are  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  church  ?  They 
are  all  these  benevolences  of  every  name  whatsoever,  every  means 
by  which  the  church  is  giving  to  men  near  and  far ;  its  foreign  mis- 
sions and  home  missions,  and  everything  that  stirs  the  soul  and 
stirs  out  the  money  of  the  men  and  women  of  the  Church.  And  I 
submit,  therefore,  we  ought  to  have  ready  hands  and  big  feet,  and 
the  bigger  our  feet  are  the  more  ground  we  will  cover,  and  the  more 


102  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

space  we  will  occupy  and  the  quicker  we  will  get  there.     Big  feet 
mean  a  larger  missionary  program. 

And  then,  in  the  next  place,  the  body  must  have  a  heart — mind, 
hands  and  feet,  and  heart.  Do  you  know  how  long  you  are  going 
to  live  ?  You  are  going  to  live  as  long  as  your  heart  beats ;  that  is 
all.  That  is  the  center  of  power  and  vitality.  What  is  the  life  of 
the  church  ?  What  is  the  heart  of  the  church  ?  The  boys  and  girls, 
the  young  people.  How  long  will  the  United  Brethren  Church  live? 
As  long  as  you  take  care  of  the  boys  and  girls,  and  not  a  generation 
longer.  The  church  that  doesn't  take  care  of  its  own  boys  and 
girls  is  committing  suicide  and  is  derelict  to  the  mission  of  the 
future.  We  have  got  to  make  the  heart  strong  and  fibrous  and 
send  the  blood  out  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  body.  In  order  to 
get  the  heart  live,  strong,  and  vigorous,  we  have  got  to  have  this 
young  life  trained  and  nurtured.  How  can  we  realize  this?  How 
can  we  have  a  church  that  has  a  strong  mind,  a  willing  hand,  big 
feet,  and  a  vigorous  heart  ?  Spirit  and  substance — God's  Spirit  and 
your  substance ;  the  goodness  of  God  and  your  goods.  The  two  put 
together  will  make  the  thing  go.  John  D.  Rockefeller  gave  a  ride 
to  a  group  of  children  whom  he  picked  up.  He  said,  ''Don't  let  me 
take  you  by  your  house."  A  little  girl  said,  "Mister,  where  are 
you  going?"  He  said,  "I  am  going  to  heaven,  Httle  girl;  do  you 
think  I  will  get  there?"  And  she  looked  at  him  a  moment  and  said, 
'*No,  mister ;  you  haven't  got  enough  gasoline."  I  submit  to  you 
the  thing  that  is  the  matter  with  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church, 
and  perhaps  yours,  we  have  had  too  much  gas  and  too  little  gas- 
oline. I  wouldn't  cut  down  on  the  gas,  but  I  would  run  up  on  the 
gasoline — a  little  more  of  the  filthy  lucre,  a  little  more  cash,  a  little 
more  C.  E.,  that  is,  cash  expected.  I  heard  about  a  woman  who 
came  into  the  church ;  she  put  in  her  offering ;  she  started  toward 
the  front  and  stopped  and  drew  back ;  she  got  the  usher  at  the  rear 
seat  and  said  to  him,  "Give  me  my  cent  back ;  I  am  in  the  wrong 
church."  The  man  who  puts  the  cent  in  the  box  is  on  the  wrong 
scent.     God  isn't  going  to  evangelize  the  world  on  the  cent  basis. 

Our  church  has  an  executive  committee.  This  committee 
meets  once  a  year  in  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  a  suburb  of  Dayton, 
and  there  goes  over  the  whole  benevolent  budget  of  the  church- - 
the  claims,  the  needs,  the  demands,  the  outlook,  the  opportunities. 
They  parcel  out  for  each  board  what  they  think  that  board  should 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  103 

receive,  and  that  whole  amount  is  prorated  among  the  various  an- 
nual conferences.  This  plan  is  in  its  third  year  of  operation  and 
it  is  working  splendidly.  We  raise  more  money.  The  board  I  rep- 
resent has  gained  sixteen  per  cent ;  sweet  sixteen,  you  may  be  sure. 
And  so  we  are  doing  our  best  to  make  this  plan  thoroughly  prac- 
tical, and  I  believe  the  day  of  larger  things  is  here.  When  we 
realize  where  this  power  is  and  how  we  can  touch  it  and  that  a 
man's  living  is  really  with  God,  we  will  see  the  church  gain  with 
leaps  and  bounds. 


A  MESSAGE  FROM  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST 

BY  A.    E.    CORY 

It  is  difficult  always  to  talk  about  ourselves.  It  is  difficult  al- 
ways to  bring  a  message  about  something  which  you  have  had  a 
part  in.  But  I  want  every  man  in  this  presence  to  know  that  in 
bringing  this  message  of  the  achievements  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ, 
there  is  not  a  single  word  of  praise  for  ourselves,  because  every 
man  who  has  had  anything  to  do  with  this  movement  which  I  am 
recounting  to  you  realizes  this  fact,  that  we  are  telling  the  story  of 
God's  movement  in  our  midst,  and  that  whatever  has  been  done  has 
not  been  done  because  of  us,  but  rather  in  spite  of  some  of  us. 

It  is  now  some  three  years  ago  since  one  of  our  missionaries 
was  taken  sick  in  China  with  typhoid  fever.  I  have  never  been 
able  to  decide  in  my  own  mind  whether  God  made  that  man  sick 
or  not.  I. will  leave  that  to  the  theologians,  but  at  any  rate  God 
used  that  man's  illness  in  China,  and  this  man,  when  he  was  finding 
his  way  back  to  a  long  convalescence,  thought  over  a  number  of 
things  in  his  mind ;  he  had  the  burden  of  China  on  his  heart  and 
the  need  of  our  missions  there,  which  had  been  very  great  indeed. 
I  remember  one  day  when  I  went  in  to  this  man,  and  he  looked  up 
at  me,  calling  me  familiarly  by  my  first  name,  and  said:  "Abe,  I 
want  to  say  something  to  you.  We  have  been  getting  about  eight 
thousand  dollars  a  year  for  buildings  in  China  for  the  last  number 
of  years.  In  the  next  five  years  we  must  have  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars every  year,  or  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  buildings." 
I  remember  I  looked  at  him  and  said,  *'Huh,"  and  he  said  it  over 
again.     My  thought  was  that  the  typhoid  fever  had  gone  to  his 


104  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

head,  and  I  went  out  of  the  room  and  said  to  Mrs.  Cory,  '*Do  you 
know  the  typhoid  fever  has  gone  to  Alex's  head,  and  do  you  know 
what  he  is  talking  about?"  She  said,  ''No;  what  is  he  talking 
about  ?"  I  said,  "He  says  we  must  have  two  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars for  buildings  alone  in  the  next  five  years  in  Central  China." 
She  said,  "I  don't  see  anything  wrong  with  that."  I  looked  down 
at  her,  and  I  said,  "Well,  what's  the  matter  with  you?" 

Do  you  know  that  man  there  in  his  room,  on  his  back,  took  it 
up  with  our  missionaries  in  China  and  talked  it  to  everybody  in 
China  whom  he  could  reach,  and  converted  everybody  except  me? 
But  I  kept  looking  very  wise  and  saying,  "Oh,  no,  we  must  not  go 
too  fast ;  we  must  be  wise ;  we  must  consider  everything  that  enters 
into  it."  That  is  the  way  the  devil  gets  a  man.  If  he  cannot  get 
him  any  other  way,  he  makes  him  conservative  on  a  great  move- 
ment. So  that  was  the  way  with  me.  He  had  me  pulling  back,  and 
I  could  pull  back  harder  than  twenty-five  men  could  pull  forward ; 
but  God  was  in  it. 

I  have  a  high-sounding  title  in  China,  called  the  dean  of  a  Bible 
school,  and  I  have  been  working  in  a  college  about  as  good  as  the 
average  garage  in  America.  I  am  not  kicking  on  the  garage,  but 
on  the  college.  One  night  a  woman  wrote  me,  "Mr.  Cory,  I  have 
decided  to  give  you  six  thousand  dollars  for  the  building  of  a  Bible 
college."  This  man  who  had  been  ill  was  convalescing  at  the  time. 
You  cannot  know  the  joy  that  was  in  my  heart  when  I  read  that 
word.  I  just  ripped  open  the  front  door  and  went  upstairs,  four 
steps  at  a  time,  and  when  I  got  up  there  I  showed  the  letter  to  this 
man.  He  said  to  me,  as  he  looked  at  it  with  tears  standing  on  his 
cheeks,  "This  is  of  God."  When  I  found  that  God  was  in  the  game, 
I  got  into  it,  too.  But  we  were  not  right  yet.  The  mission  seemed 
to  think  that  was  a  stupendous  task.  We  were  driven  to  our  knees 
every  day.  For  four  weeks  we  went  down  on  our  knees  in  prayer, 
and  whatever  I  shall  recount  to  you  as  having  happened  after  that, 
has  been  absolutely  because  of  the  power  of  prayer. 

Time  went  on  and  one  of  our  secretaries  came  around  the 
world,  and  we  put  up  this  two-hundred-thousand-dollar  story  to 
him,  and  he  looked  at  us  very  wise  and  said:  "Men,  I  have  been 
thinking  for  a  long  time  that  there  was  something  wrong  with  you 
fellows.  I  know  what  it  is  now :  you  are  going  crazy."  Three  days 
later  that  secretary  came  to  us  in  a  little  town  in  China  and  said, 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  105 

**Men,  I  can't  eat  and  I  can't  sleep  for  that  crazy  idea  of  yours ; 
talk  to  me  some  more  about  it."  We  poured  out  our  heart's  story 
to  him,  and  he  said:  "It  is  a  great  idea.  There  is  only  one  thing 
the  matter  with  it,  and  that  is  that  it  is  for  China.  What  about 
India;  what  about  Japan;  what  about  the  islands  of  the  sea?"  He 
wakened  me  up  in  the  night  and  said :  "What  we  have  got  to  do  is 
to  pool  our  interests  and  raise  a  great  sum  of  money.  It  would 
take  one-half  million  dollars."  He  said :  "It  is  of  God.  Let  us  go 
out  and  do  it."  We  decided  to  go  out  for  half  a  million  dollars, 
a;nd  out  there  in  China  that  seemed  to  be  a  pretty  big  sum  of 
money. 

I  was  asked  to  lead  in  the  enterprise,  to  come  home  and  raise 
that  amount  of  a  half-million  dollars.  I  went  to  the  Philippines ;  I 
went  to  Japan;  I  went  to  the  other  fields  preparing  for  the  task; 
but  the  missionaries  said  to  me,  "Mr.  Cory,  you  must  make  it  more 
than  a  half-million."  I  said,  "No ;  that  is  all  you  are  going  to  get." 
And  then  I  came  home,  friends,  and  began  to  study  methods  and 
consulted  Mr.  Mount  on  their  great  campaign.  I  had  heard  what 
the  Canadians  had  done  in  raising  money  for  their  home  and  for- 
eign missions.  They  told  me  up  there  I  must  make  it  a  million  dol- 
lars. I  said,  "You  don't  know  our  folks ;  they  haven't  got  a  million 
dollars  to  put  in  there."  And  so  I  went  to  tell  the  story  of  half 
a  million  dollars.  I  went  to  two  business  men  in  New  York,  and 
the  first  thing  they  said  was  that  it  did  not  strike  them.  I  said  to 
them,  "Don't  you  beheve  in  doing  a  great  thing  for  God?"  "Yes." 
They  said,  "But  that  is  just  what  you  are  not  doing."  Then  one 
said,  "I  will  give  you  two  hundred  dollars  for  half  a  million,  and 
one  thousand  dollars  on  the  milHon."  The  other  said,  "I  will  give 
three  hundred  dollars  on  a  half  a  million  and  one  thousand  dollars 
on  a  million."  I  said,  "I  don't  believe  we  can  do  it."  I  met  a  man 
in  Iowa  working  on  a  salary,  not  a  rich  man  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  term.  This  man  said  to  me  in  some  surprise,  "What  are  you 
doing  at  home?"  I  told  him  the  half-milHon  story.  I  never  said 
a  word  about  the  million  dollars.  With  a  good  deal  of  energy  he 
said,  "I  won't  give  you  a  cent  on  it."  He  said :  "You  are  not  talk- 
ing the  language  of  this  age;  this  is  a  million-dollar  age.  I  will 
give  you  a  thousand  dollars  on  a  million."  I  scratched  my  head 
and  said,  "Maybe  it  will  be  a  million  dollars;  I  don't  know."  So 
I  went  out  and  asked  a  hundred  business  men  and   a  hundred 


106  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

preachers  of  our  church  this  question,  ''Shall  we  make  it  a  million 
dollars  or  keep  it  a  half-million  ?"  Every  one  of  our  preachers  said 
keep  it  half  a  million,  and  every  one  of  the  business  men  said 
make  it  a  million.  Now,  men,  I  just  want  in  a  brief  word  to  tell 
you  how  this  task  was  accomplished.  Back  of  it  has  been  the 
mighty  power  of  prayer.  We  have  kept  our  methods  subject  to 
change,  like  a  railroad  company's  time-table,  depending  upon  the 
Word  of  God  and  the  power  of  God.  A  little  over  a  year  ago  we 
went  out  after  that  million  dollars,  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that 
within  the  next  five  years  more  than  one  million  dollars  have  been 
assured. 

You  want  to  know  some  of  the  things  that  have  been  accom- 
plished. I  went  into  the  office  of  a  business  man  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  when  I  wanted  to  talk  to  him  I  stood  before  him 
and  he  did  not  even  ask  me  to  sit  down,  and  so  I  started  in  and 
talked  right  in  that  fellow's  face  for  ten  minutes,  and  he  said,  ''You 
are  in  a  hurry,"  and  I  said,  "It  is  you  who  are  in  a  hurry,"  and  he 
said,  "Come  into  my  inner  office  and  let  us  bow  in  prayer."  Men, 
dozens  of  times  in  the  great  offices  of  railway  men  and  of  bankers 
and  corporation  lawyers  I  have  gone  down  on  my  knees  in  prayer 
with  them,  and  never  once  at  my  request.  I  have  come  to  this  be- 
lief to-day,  that  men  want  to  hear  God  talked  about  in  a  man's 
way.  People  say  to  me,  "How  do  you  get  at  these  people?"  We 
do  not  get  at  them;  we  let  God  do  it.  I  want  to  put  that  to  you 
again  and  again,  and  not  in  any  pietistic  way.  We  went  into  one 
town  and  had  a  little  supper  with  the  people.  One  man  got  up 
and  said,  "I  move  that  this  town  raise  five  thousand  dollars  for  this 
movement."  (Afterward  the  town  raised  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars.) When  we  were  going  out  of  that  building  that  night,  a  little 
woman  met  me  and  said,  "You  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourself, 
asking  this  town  for  five  thousand  dollars."  I  went  home  wonder- 
ing if  we  had  asked  too  much  and  were  going  to  put  the  people  to 
the  poorhouse.  I  was  a  little  surprised  the  next  morning  when 
that  woman  called  me  up  on  the  telephone  and  said,  "I  want  you  to 
come  and  see  me."  I  went,  and  she  said,  "Mr.  Cory,  I  am  going 
to  give  you  five  hundred  dollars.  I  have  not  slept  very  much,  and 
I  am  going  to  make  that  much  of  a  contribution."  I  thanked  her, 
and  asked  if  she  wanted  to  sign.  She  said,  "No,  I  may  change  my 
mind."     I  did  not  ask  her  further.     That  afternoon  I  got  a  note 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  107 

to  come  and  see  her.  When  I  went  into  her  presence,  she  said,  "I 
have  changed  my  mind."  I  said,  ''Why  are  you  not  going  to  give?" 
She  rephed:  "Who  said  I  am  not  going  to  give?  I  am  going  to 
give  you  one  thousand  dollars."  I  never  said  a  word  to  her  about 
signing.  When  you  get  a  woman  going  in  that  direction,  let  her  go. 
I  was  not  at  all  surprised  the  next  morning  when  the  telephone  bell 
rang  again,  for  I  knew  she  was  on  the  other  end  of  the  Hne.  She 
said,  ''Come  over  here."  I  went  as  quickly  as  I  could.  When  I 
went  into  the  presence  of  that  woman  I  felt  I  was  going  into  the 
presence  of  an  angel.  Her  face  was  radiant  with  the  presence  of 
God.  She  said:  "For  two  nights  I  have  been  in  prayer.  My  hus- 
band was  a  doctor.  I  want  to  build  a  hospital  on  the  banks  of  the 
mighty  Congo  that  will  bear  his  name."  I  could  tell  you  of  dozens 
of  people  who  with  the  power  of  God  working  on  their  hearts,  have 
been  led  to  do  great  things.  In  no  public  meeting  have  we  asked 
for  money,  and  seldom  in  a  private  meeting.  We  have  had  but  one 
theme,  the  power  of  God  in  the  world. 

You  know  when  a  man  is  doing  a  great  task  a  good  many 
temptations  come  to  him.  When  we  got  to  the  half-million  dollars 
the  temptation  was  to  stop  for  a  while.  But  I  went  into  a  business 
man's  office  in  Oklahoma  City,  and  on  his  office  door  was  this 
motto,  "The  man  who  stops  on  third  base  to  congratulate  himself 
never  makes  a  home  run."  We  never  stopped,  but  went  on  and  went 
on  until  the  task  was  completed.  But  as  it  was  nearing  completion, 
I  thought  we  were  going  to  stop  at  the  million  dollars.  I  felt  Hke 
saying,  "Lord,  let  Thy  servant  depart  in  peace."  That  was  the 
only  thought  in  my  mind.  But  down  in  a  banquet  in  southern  Cal- 
ifornia, a  man  got  up  and  said,  "I  will  be  one  of  one  hundred  men 
to  give  another  million,"  and  he  launched  at  that  moment  another 
million-dollar  campaign.  That  million-dollar  campaign  carried 
with  it  a  thousand  workers  for  America,  and  it  went  to  $2,500,000. 

A  quiet,  conservative  business  man  asked  me,  "Are  our  col- 
leges included?"  I  said,  "We  cannot  include  them;  this  is  just  the 
missionary  task."  He  said,  "It  seems  to  me  that  education  and  mis- 
sions ought  to  be  linked  up  in  some  way."  I  went  to  my  room,  but 
not  to  sleep,  and  all  that  Saturday  night  I  battled  with  that  question. 
Fifty  times  I  decided  to  ask  him  for  a  million  dollars,  and  then  I 
said,  "No."  The  next  morning,  after  a  great  prayer-meeting  in  the 
early  hours  of  the  morning,  at  which  he  was  present,  I  decided  not 


108  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

to  do  it;  but  somehow  it  was  impressed  upon  me  to  ask  him  for  a 
million  dollars.  I  went  to  him  and  I  said  in  a  quivering  voice, 
"After  an  all  night  of  prayer,  God  has  laid  it  upon  my  heart  to  ask 
you  to  give  one  million  dollars  and  unite  our  colleges  and  missionary 
enterprises."  He  reached  out  his  hand  and  said,  "Say  no  more;  I 
will  not  say  'Yea,'  and  I  will  not  say  'Nay,'  but  I  will  answer  you 
in  thirty  days.''  Finally  his  proposition  was  that  if  our  church 
would  raise  five  million  dollars  he  will  give  one  million  in  the  next 
five  years.  The  impression  upon  my  heart  when  he  made  that 
statement  was,  "Be  still  and  know  that  I  am  God."  A  great  many 
men  have  given  sums  like  that  in  their  wills,  when  they  could  use  it 
no  longer.  I  believe  that  God  is  using  that  man  to  challenge  the 
whole  kingdom  of  God  to  do  greater  things  for  him. 

There  are  a  multitude  of  things  that  I  would  like  to  say  to  you. 
I  would  like  to  tell  you  about  the  campaign  for  one  thousand  men. 
I  will  tell  you  this  one  story.  A  Methodist  woman  in  Los  Angeles 
telephoned  me  to  come  and  see  her.  When  I  went,  she  said,  "I  am 
going  to  send  my  daughter  to  China."  I  said,  "I  would  like  to  meet 
her."  She  came  in,  a  beautiful  girl,  a  graduate  from  one  of  the 
great  colleges  of  America.  I  asked  her  age.  She  was  twenty-three. 
I  turned  to  her  mother  and  I  said,  "How  long  have  you  had  it  in 
your  heart  that  this  daughter  should  go  to  China?"  Looking  me 
squarely  in  the  face,  she  said,  "For  nearly  twenty-four  years ;  from 
the  time  that  girl  was,  she  belonged  to  China."  God  is  challenging 
us  from  the  very  hour  of  their  being  to  give  our  children  to  the 
world  task.  Do  you  ask  me  about  the  influence  of  this  world  move- 
ment on  our  church?  I  want  to  say  that  money  is  the  least  of  all. 
It  has  united  our  church,  and  the  church  can  never  be  united  by  doc- 
trine or  theology,  but  only  by  a  great  task  for  God.  It  has  united 
us  in  a  mighty  movement  of  prayer.  We  shall  fail  if  we  go  out  to 
get  five  or  six  miUion  dollars  unless  we  have  created  a  great  wave 
of  spirituality  in  the  church. 

Men  of  God,  I  ask  you  to-day,  as  we  go  to  this  greater  task, 
that  you  will  unite  your  prayers  with  ours,  and  I  can  assure  you 
that  our  prayers  will  be  united  with  yours  and  we  shall  all  go  for- 
ward, taking  this  world  for  God  and  his  Christ. 


CHRIST  DOMINANT  IN  SOCIETY,  IN  THE  CITY 
AND  IN  THE  CHURCH 


THE  CALL  TO  SOCL\L  SERVICE 

BY    WARREN    L.    BUNGER 

"Jesus  was  the  inspiration  and  the  dynamic  of  his  life."  In 
those  ten  words  a  recent  writer  who  knew,  summed  up  the  great 
character  and  life  program  of  one  of  God's  noblemen  and  a  lover 
of  men,  David  A.  Sinclair.  That  sentence  is  the  key  to  all  that  is 
in  my  heart  on  the  call  to  social  service. 

This  discussion  proceeds  on  the  assumption  of  a  fundamental 
fourfold  basis: 

1.  Knowing  the  mind  of  the  Master  is  essential. 

2.  The  universal  longing  for  communion  v/ith  God  and  for 
friendly  human  associations. 

3.  The  supremacy  of  the  spiritual  in  man. 

4.  Abiding  faith  in  God,  the  Church,  the  fourfold  message — 
spiritual,  mental,  physical,  and  social — for  sadng  society  and  the 
world,  not  by  elimination  but  by  redemption. 

SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  FELLOWSHIP  WITH  CHRIST 

I  have  a  deepening  conviction  that  once  any  man  has  an  in- 
telligent conception  of  Christ's  person  and  program,  Christ's  spirit 
and  method,  that  man's  life  current  and  life  objectives  are  de- 
termined. The  call  to  social  service  is  first  of  all  and  primarilv 
the  call  to  fellowship  with  Christ.  The  first  advocates  of  renewed 
emphasis  upon  the  social  gospel  were  Josiah  Strong,  Richard  C.  Ely, 
and  Washington  Gladden.  Orthodoxy  looked  askance  at  them.  We 
are  in  a  new  day.  I  shall  never  forget  hearing  Doctor  Gladden  say 
three  years  ago,  "I  never  expected  to  live  to  see  this  day,  when  the 
one  gospel  of  individual  salvation  and  social  redemption  is  preached 
from  the  same  platform."  The  Men  and  Religion  Forward  Move- 
ment made  it  orthodox  in  the  church.  The  land  is  full  of  preachers, 
lay  and  clerical,  who  delight  to  talk  about  it. 

109 


110  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

Peril  lies  in  the  way  now  that  it  has  become  a  popular  conven- 
tion theme  and  men  give  read\-  and  easy  assent  to  facts  stated  and 
theories  proclaimed,  and  straiglitvv'ay  forget  what  manner  of  com- 
pelling command  for  a  cross-controlled  life  there  lies  in  this  way. 
Unless  we  are  willing  to  start  in  the  way  of  obedience  to  his  call 
to  social  service  we  would  best  not  talk  much  about  it  here  nor 
seek  a  more  intimate  fellowship  with  him,  for  that  is  the  way  in 
which  he  leads  to-day,  and  his  call  from  the  fore  is  complemented 
by  a  force  which  Graham  Taylor  is  pleased  to  name  ''the  push  from 
behind  and  the  thrust  from  about." 

Once  when  our  Lord  was  going  about  the  cities  and  villages 
teaching  and  preaching  and  healing,  seeing  the  distressed  and  scat- 
tered throng,  he  was  moved  with  compassion  for  them,  and  then 
and  there  asked  his  disciples  to  join  him  in  Christianity's  first  and 
most  approved  program.  It  was  a  program  born  in  a  compassion 
that  compelled  prayer,  built  up  in  unselfish  intercession  that  per- 
severed, and  finished  in  prayer-fused  service. 

Julia  Ward  Howe  once  asked  Charles  Summer  to  her  home 
to  meet  a  personal  friend,  and  Summer  replied,  "I  am  losing  my 
interest  in  individuals  and  becoming  interested  in  the  race."  Know- 
ing our  Lord,  you  will  fully  appreciate  Julia  Ward  Howe's  entry  in 
her  journal  that  night:  "By  the  latest  accounts  God  Almighty  has 
not  got  as  far  as  this," 

SOCIAL  SERVICE  A  PASSION  FOR  FOLKS 

Jesus  could  not  be  disloyal  to  truth,  but  his  passion  was  for 
personality.  Problems  oppress  us ;  men  concerned  him.  Only  bet- 
ter men  can  do  better  work.  Doctor  Peabody  tells  the  truth  when 
he  says,  ''The  more  intricate  is  the  machinery  of  the  world,  the 
more  competent  must  be  its  engineers."  We  do  well  to  follow 
Christ  in  his  pursuit  of  folks. 

One  night  last  winter  the  volley  ball  game  in  our  gymnasium 
prolonged  itself  an  hour  past  closing  time.  The  men  against  whom 
we  played  would  not  know  when  they  were  beaten.  On  his  way 
home,  one  of  our  men  found  two  fellows  in  need  of  a  friendly  hand, 
and  he  led  them  through  our  open  door  into  the  warmth  and  light 
of  our  office,  where  many  a  man  has  fought  and  won  a  moral  bat- 
tle. And  a  battle  faced  us  that  night.  Jack  Patton  and  his  pastor, 
in  gymnasium  attire,  spent  that  night  with  those  men  and  the  Sa- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  111 

vior,  in  conference,  Bible  study,  and  prayer.  With  the  coming  of 
the  dawn's  gray  came  soberness,  steadiness,  and  peace,  and  with 
trustful  determination  while  on  their  knees  with  uplifted  hands 
they  pledged  God  and  each  other  never  to  drink  again.  Remaining 
on  their  knees,  they  requested  me  to  pour  the  remaining  contents 
of  the  bottles  in  the  sewer.  One  of  them  returned  to  his  church 
and  pastor  and  renewed  his  vows;  the  other  became  a  member  of 
our  church  the  next  Sunday  and  remains  faithful.  In  no  environ- 
ment was  Christ  ever  more  real. 

Surely  it  will  be  a  sorry  day  whenever  we  lose  our  interest  in 
folks  in  the  midst  of  our  problems,  real  problems,  about  the  race. 

THE  UNITED  BRETHREN   CHURCH   AND  SOCIAL  SERVICE 

The  call  to  social  service  is  nothing  more  than  tlie  call  "to 
fraternize  the  conditions  of  life  and  labor,  to  Christianize  the  frame- 
work and  spirit  of  the  community,  to  humanize  religion  for  the  pro- 
motion of  these  ends."    And  it  is  certainly  nothing  less  than  that. 

The  behef  and  purpose  of  our  denomination  is  declared  in 
these  plain  but  far-reaching  words,  'The  Church  of  the  United 
Brethren  in  Christ  stands  for  a  new  emphasis  upon  the  application 
of  Christian  principles  to  all  life  relations."  That  principle  is  as 
old  as  our  holy  religion,  but  we  had  forgotten  its  emphasis. 

Now,  our  task  is  to  place  the  religious  emphasis  upon  social 
service  and  the  social  emphasis  upon  religious  work.  To  fuse  the 
life,  the  spirit,  the  motive,  the  compassion,  the  good  sense,  the  win- 
ning power  of  our  Christ  into  every  corner  of  all  our  complex  life 
is  the  demand  of  the  hour. 

To  give  a  hungry  man  only  a  piece  of  bread ;  a  shivering  body 
only  a  coat;  a  dirty  man  only  a  bath  and  a  clean  shirt;  a  storm- 
beaten  man  only  a  sheltering  roof  and  a  bed — though  every  hungry, 
cold,  dirty,  storm-beaten  man  ought  to  be  ministered  unto — may 
infatuate  the  giver  but  can  never  satisfy  the  soul  hunger  of  any 
man  in  whom  remains  one  ounce  of  self-respect  nor  the  just  de- 
mands of  our  Lord,  Christ.  "Though  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to 
feed  the  poor  but  have  not  love  it  profiteth  nothing." 

SEPARATED    INTO    OPPOSING    CAMPS 

At  this  point  we  Christians  have  separated  into  opposing,  crit- 
ical, unsympathetic  camps,  and  we've  gathered  our  holy  garments 


112  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

about  us  a  bit  closer  as  we've  shouted,  "Oh,  society  needs  more 
than  a  new  grandmother  and  a  bath  and  improved  sanitation,"  and 
we've  satisfied  our  poor  selves  when  we've  asked  men  to  come  to 
pray.  God  save  us  from  that  camp !  Or  we've  stood  over  against, 
so  busy  about  many  things,  that  we've  forgotten,  if  we  ever  knew, 
that  men  cannot  live  by  bread  alone,  and  while  we've  stood  apart 
defending  the  half-truth  on  whose  edges  we  dwell,  Christ  tarries 
and  weeps  and  the  kingdom  waits  and  men  and  women  and  little 
children  suffer  and  die  loveless  and  alone. 

Society  wants  the  worst  of  neither  camp;  it  needs  the  best  of 
both.  The  best  of  each  is  available  whenever  the  middle  wall  of 
partition  melts  away  under  the  fusing,  leavening  influence  of  God's 
own  love  and  purpose.  God  save  us  from  carping  criticism  of  each 
other.  God  save  us  from  scolding  one  another,  though  each  has 
needed  it  betimes ! 

HUMAN-MADE  PLANS   FOR   SOCIAL  REDEMPTION 

Seventy-five  years  ago  Emerson  wrote  Carlyle,  "Every  reading 
man  has  a  plan  for  the  new  community  in  his  vest  pocket,"  and 
added,  "we  are  a  little  wild  with  our  schemes  for  making  the  world 
over."  The  church  is  coming  into  her  own  heritage  of  prestige, 
leadership,  and  power  in  the  rediscovery  of  our  Lord's  social  serv- 
ice program. 

The  church  has  always  supplied  the  motive,  the  money,  and  the 
workers,  but  in  administration  she  has  taken  little  or  no  part. 
Sometimes  she  has  been  discredited  before  the  eyes  of  the  bene- 
ficiaries of  her  ministry  and  her  bounty.  Without  God  and  the 
Bible  and  the  church  and  Jesus  Christ  there  is  no  salvation,  social 
or  individual. 

Australia  is  the  one  outstanding  example  in  all  the  world  of  a 
nation  seeking  by  its  welfare  laws  to  make  its  people  comfortable, 
happy,  and  good.  Raymond  Robins  was  overwhelmed,  on  a  recent 
visit  to  that  continent,  with  the  magnitude  of  the  welfare  legisla- 
tion. Approved,  advanced,  welfare  legislation  ought  to  be  enacted 
in  very  Christian  land. 

Australia  has  an  eight-hour,  universal  labor  law  which  applies 
to  all,  from  the  bank  cashier  to  the  domestic.  At  Melbourne  a  shaft, 
the  only  one  of  its  kind  in  the  world,  bears  high  upon  its  top, 
"8 — 8— -8"  typifying  the  daily  hours   for  sleep,  labor,  and  recre- 


Our  Men  (Did  Their  Task  113 

ation.  There  is  a  minimum  wage  law,  with  hoards  to  determine 
what  is  a  living  wage;  stringent  laws  for  protection  in  operating 
dangerous  machinery ;  an  old-age  pension  law ;  laws  for  the  protec- 
tion of  health  in  mills,  shops,  stores,  and  mines;  compulsory  edu- 
cation; no  child  labor;  Wednesday  and  Saturday  afternoons  are 
half-hoHdays ;  there  is  not  a  tenement  on  the  continent.  Mr.  Robins 
says  that  there  is  no  other  place  where  wages  are  so  uniformly  good, 
living  conditions  so  favorable,  and  prices  so  moderate. 

Fred  B.  Smith  declares,  ''Notwithstanding  all  this,  Australia's 
record  for  intemperance,  gambling,  and  impurity  is  black  and  ap- 
palling." Australia's  welfare  laws  were  made  largely  without  ref- 
erence to  the  church. 

A  while  ago  Jane  Addams  said,  "While  the  conviction  of  sin 
could  be  made  through  an  objective  and  economic  investigation,  the 
regeneration  which  was  supposed  to  follow,  must,  of  course,  de- 
pend upon  spiritual  forces." 

Whatever  of  the  good  work  that  is  going  on  now  in  our  com- 
munities that  was  done  formerly  at  all,  was  done  originally  by  the 
churches.  We  are  now  in  the  good  day  of  a  mighty  trend  of 
healthy  sentiment  and  great  events  back  to  the  church.  It  is  pre- 
eminently the  charge  of  the  church  to  provide  an  atmospheric  pres- 
sure that  will  protect  and  promote  right  living.  Pray,  do  not  cut 
the  nerve  of  any  approved  movement  for  social  betterment  by  an 
attempt  to  divorce  reHgion  from  it.  Churchmen  must  co-operate 
with  every  agency,  inter-church,  social,  civic  for  the  general  good. 

THE  LOCAL  CHURCH   IN  THE  COMMUNITY 

Every  congregation  has  a  distinct  responsibility  to  the  entire 
city,  town,  or  community  which  can  be  met  only  in  co-operation 
with  inter-church  or  other  general  agencies,  but  no  church  dare, 
no  church  can  bury  itself  and  lose  its  identity  in  any  general  move- 
ment. 

Superlative  importance  attaches  to  the  place  of  each  church  in 
its  own  parish,  improving  its  own  opportunities,  meeting  its  own 
responsibilities.  The  program  of  the  average  local  church  must  be 
broadened  so  that  it  can  minister  to  the  spiritual,  mental,  physical, 
and  social  nature  and  needs  of  every  parishioner.  The  building 
must  be  unlocked,  aired,  warmed,  lighted,  used.  It  must  actually 
be  made  the  parish  center. 


114  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

That  Jesus  meant  Christians  to  adopt  and  follow  a  program 
as  diversified  and  as  broad  as  the  sweep  of  all  the  needs  of  the 
life  of  man  is  easily  seen  in  his  own  striking  word  picture  of  the 
last  judgment.  Read  that  again,  won't  you,  and  after  it,  Walter 
Rauschenbusch's  little  booklet,  "Unto  Me." 

An  interested  professor  said  to  me  in  a  recent  note:  "For 
some  time  I  have  been  interested  in  the  seven-day  church  propo- 
sition and  the  seven-day  religion  to  fit  it.  We  must  have  some- 
thing to  offer  in  the  way  of  construction  before  we  can  begin  the 
work  of  destruction.  Our  church,  led  by  our  progressive  pastor, 
has  organized  the  Boy  Scouts,  the  Camp-fire  Girls,  an  Inter-Sun- 
day-school Basket-ball  League,  and  we  have  plans  for  playgrounds 
this  summer." 

Some  phases  of  the  institutional  or  open  church  ought  to  be 
inaugurated  in  every  parish  where  a  church  ought  to  exist.  The 
church  that  serves  the  community  best  is  sure  to  be  best  served 
by  the  community.  Bishop  Anderson  asked  Doctor  Edward  Jud- 
son  to  characterize  in  a  word  or  two  the  chief  features  of  the  in- 
stitutional church.  Doctor  Judson  replied,  *Tt  is  simply  a  church 
of  organized  kindnesses  to  the  individual." 

SALVATION    NOT  BY  PROXY,   BUT  BY   PROXIMITY 

Certainly  religion  belongs  in  every  phase  of  our  life,  family 
and  community,  industrial,  political,  commercial,  but  it  will  never 
be  applied  to  any  phase  of  our  life  by  proxy.  A  soul  is  saved  by 
proximity  and  needed  changes  in  society  are  wrought  by  the  close, 
impinging,  sympathetic  touch  of  Christ-filled  personality. 

A  pastor  who  seeks  to  share  the  life  of  his  parishioners,  after 
having  been  shepherd  and  friend  in  a  time  of  deep  sorrow  to  "a 
man  who  was  a  sinner,"  received  a  letter  from  him  from  which  I 
quote:  *T  do  not  know  that  I  am  under  any  special  conviction  of 
sin,  but  I  do  long  to  associate  with  good  and  Christian  men  and 
women.  I  am  starved  for  that  association.  If  I  could  have  it  1 
believe  I  would  soon  be  willing  to  leave  it  all  to  God.  You  can 
hardly  imagine  the  darkness,  almost  despair,  that  at  times  I  have 
been  in.  But  for  years  I  have  had  no  one  to  talk  with  as  I  now 
do  with  you,  and  I  have  had  to  bear  all,  alone,  without  human  help. 
Words  cannot  tell  you  how  I  long  to  be  out  from  all  low  and  wrong 
associations." 


Oil?'  Men  and  Their  Task  115 

I  believe  that  "human  creatures,  almost  as  much  as  they  re- 
quire light  and  warmth,  need  the  sense  that  others  are  thinking-  and 
feeling  like  themselves." 

A  note  which  I  received  from  the  superintendent  of  a  suc- 
cessful and  growing  business  will  illustrate.  Said  he,  ''Often  when 
I  think  of  the  Sunday  school,  of  the  church,  and  of  you,  I  wonder 
if  it  can  really  be  I,  because  I  certainly  had  lost  all  my  interest  in 
church  and  things  pertaining  thereto.  I  want  to  thank  you  most 
sincerely  for  reviving  that  'something'  which  is  in  all  of  us,  even 
the  v/orst  of  us,  that  'something  good.'  You  have  done  me  so  much 
good,  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  how  much." 

Though  he  had  not  been  in  church  for  years,  he,  with  his  wife, 
is  an  interested,  working  member  of  the  church.  The  first  point  of 
contact  was  the  medicine  ball  and  the  gymnasium.  It  might  have 
been  any  one  of  a  number  of  things  available  in  any  church,  too 
little  used  to  re-introduce  men  to  God. 

Still  another  writes,  "I  do  not  beheve  I  could  hold  down  the 
kind  of  a  job  I  do  if  it  were  not  for  the  good  I  get  out  of  my 
church  and  the  bracing  up  that  comes  through  the  channels  of  its 
spiritual  and  social  Hfe." 

I  could  multiply  indefinitely  similar  expressions  from  hungry- 
hearted  men  who  long  for  God  and  healthy,  human  fellowships 
which  they  ought  to  find  in  any  church  that  has  a  right  to  live. 

Frank  Mason  North's  prayer  hymn  voices  the  plaintive  plead- 
ing of  the  multitude  of  men,  women,  and  children  on  whose  life 
need  he  looks  with  his  old  but  never-failing  compassion,  he  and  they 
waiting  the  while  for  the  belated  compassion  of  a  tardy  but  an 
awakening  church. 

"Where  cross  the  crowded  ways  of  life, 

Where  sound  the  cries  of  race  and  clan, 
Above  the  noise  of  selfish  strife. 

We  hear  thy  voice,  O  Son  of  Man. 

*Tn  haunts  of  wretchedness  and  need, 

On  shadowed  thresholds  dark  with  fears, 
From  paths  where  hide  the  lures  of  greed, 
W^e  catch  the  vision  of  thy  tears. 


116  Our  Men  and  Thrir  Task 

**From  tender  childhood's  helplessness, 

From  woman's  grief,  man's  burdened  toil, 
From  famished  souls,  from  sorrow's  stress, 
Thy  heart  has  never  known  recoil. 

"The  cup  of  water  given  for  thee 

Still  holds  the  freshness  of  thy  grace; 
Yet  long  these  multitudes  to  see 
The  sweet  compassion  of  thy  face. 

''O  Master,  from  the  mountain  side, 

Make  haste  to  heal  these  hearts  of  pain ; 
Among  these  restless  throngs  abide; 
Oh,  tread  the  city's  streets  again ; 

"Till  sons  of  men  shall  learn  thy  love, 
And  follow  where  thy  feet  have  trod ; 
Till  glorious  from  thy  heaven  above. 
Shall  come  the  city  of  our  God." 

The  call  to-day  is  the  call  to  leadership  in  making  a  keen,  re- 
sponsive, social  conscience  keep  pace  and  step  with  the  unprece- 
dented social  consciousness  of  this  age. 

It  is  Christ's  call  to  fellowship  with  him  in  social  service,  the 
open-house  program,  a  church  whose  members  love  each  other,  a 
shepherd  ministry  and  evangelism  which  cannot  be  separated,  but 
all,  all  used  as  the  unfailing  means  of  finding  the  sure  paths  to  God 
for  the  feet  of  modern  men. 


TRANSFORMING  A  CITY 

BY  FREDERICK   H.  RIKE 

I  am  supposed  to  tell  you  men  who  come  from  abroad,  some- 
thing of  the  experience  we  have  had  in  Dayton  in  changing  from  the 
old  to  the  new  form  of  government,  which  differs  from  that  of  the 
average  American  city.  Dayton  was  misgoverned — probably  not 
any  more  than  hundreds  of  other  American  cities,  and  not  on  ac- 
count of  the  fact  that  men  intentionallv  meant  to  be  dishonest,  but 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  117 

the  opportunity  was  there  for  dishonesty.  There  was  the  oppor- 
tunity for  the  gratification  of  the  selfish  interests  of  men.  We  will 
make  no  further  accusation  than  that.  It  was  only  a  condition ; 
the  men  were  not  to  blame.  Wrong  conditions  must  be  remedied, 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  church  to  take  all  conditions  that  lead  to 
dishonesty  and  corruption  and  change  them.  That  is  your  business 
and  mine,  and  if  you  and  I  are  not  doing  our  duty  in  these  things, 
then  we  are  not  living  up  to  our  opportunities  or  doing  the  things 
that  should  make  a  churchman  different  from  the  man  who  does  not 
belong. 

Let  us  consider  for  a  minute  the  American  city.  More  than 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  years  ago,  our  forefathers — all  honor 
to  them — threw  off  the  reign  of  England.  They  were  opposed  to 
taxation  without  representation.  They  did  not  have  many  cities  at 
that  time — our  population  was  mostly  in  the  country — but  they  had 
gained  an  abhorrence  of  kingly  rule,  and  so  the  city  government 
was  planned  after  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  became  known  as 
the  "Federal  Plan."  Thus  were  our  cities  ruled,  and  so  we  went 
along.  Then  changes  came  about.  Labor-saving  machinery  was  in- 
vented, our  population  grev/,  our  manufacturers  prospered,  and  we 
became  a  great  United  States  of  producers,  exporters,  and  im- 
porters. Thus  was  the  population  driven  into  the  cities,  and  from 
these  great  aggregations  of  people,  together  with  the  fact  that  there 
were  many  nationalities  and  kinds  of  citizenship,  there  developed  a 
complexity  of  life  and  a  multitude  of  problems  that  developed  a 
cankerous  sore  at  the  root  of  our  democracy,  which  has  been  grow- 
ing deeper  and  deeper  until  something  had  to  happen. 

THE  BBlGINNING  OF  THE   COMMISSION    PLAN    OF   CITY   GOVERNMENT 

Fourteen  years  ago,  down  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  a  great  tidal 
wave  rolled  over  the  city  of  Galveston,  leaving  in  its  wake,  death 
and  destruction.  After  the  storm  had  passed,  the  city  was  power- 
less. It  had  no  credit;  its  form  of  government  offered  no  means 
of  relief  or  rehabilitation.  The  authorities  were  compelled  to  issue 
script,  and  the  outlook  was  gloomy  indeed.  In  this  great  emer- 
gency, three  lawyers  devised  the  commission  form  of  government, 
and  it  provided  a  way  out  of  their  distress.  This  form  of  govern- 
ment spread  north  through  Texas,  to  Dallas  and  Fort  Worth.  Later 
an  attorney  from  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  visited  in  Texas  and  saw  what 


118  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

they  were  doing  in  the  way  of  municipal  government,  and  was  so 
impressed  with  what  he  saw  that  he  took  the  commission  form  back 
to  Des  Moines  and  there  they  improved  it  and  adopted  it.  Thus 
this  form  of  government  spread  until  three  hundred  cities  in  the 
United  States  had  adopted  commission  form  of  government,  and 
nowhere,  once  adopted,  has  any  city  gone  back  to  the  old  plan. 

dayton's   commission-manager  government 

And  Dayton,  operating  under  the  old  Federal  plan,  felt  the  ne- 
cessity of  making  a  change,  and,  having  been  given  the  authority 
by  the  home  rule  provision  of  the  new  Ohio  State  Constitution,  it 
said  to  itself,  "We  are  going  to  have  a  change  of  form  of  govern- 
m.ent."  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  appointed  a  committee  of  five 
men,  who,  after  careful  study,  evolved  a  plan  of  city  government 
which  they  believed  an  improvement  over  the  old  commission  form. 
This  new  plan  was  presented  to  the  people  and  adopted.  The  plan 
was  the  commission-manager,  or  city  manager,  form  of  government. 

When  our  forefathers  fought  the  battles  of  the  Revolution, 
there  was  back  of  them  the  force  of  the  idea  that  they  would  not 
stand  for  taxation  without  representation ;  when  we  fought  the 
Civil  War,  the  North  was  inspired  by  the  idea  that  our  Union  must 
be  kept  one  and  inseparable ;  and  in  the  city  of  Dayton  the  force 
back  of  the  movement  for  the  new  form  of  government  was  the  idea 
of  the  separation  of  the  administrative  and  legislative  functions. 
This  idea  found  its  expression  in  the  new  form  of  government,  as 
follows:  A  commission  of  five  is  elected,  who  devise  and  pass  all 
legislation;  that  is,  they  exercise  all  legislative  functions.  This 
commission  further  elects  a  city  manager  who  has  all  administra- 
tive functions. 

COMMUNITY  WELFARE  THE  OBJECTIVE 

And  in  addition,  I  desire  to  impress  upon  you  men  that  this 
charter  was  written  with  the  conception  that  it  must  provide  for 
the  community  welfare.  And  the  conception  of  community  welfare 
goes  back  to  the  things  and  ideas  that  come  from  the  Book  that  lies 
here  on  this  stand ;  you  cannot  get  this  idea  from  anything  else ; 
and  so  it  was  the  conception  of  community  welfare  that  inspired 
this  charter. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  119 

We  thought  that  a  city  to  be  bigger  must  be  better.  Henry 
Burere,  who  is  probably  the  best  authority  on  commission  govern- 
ment in  the  United  States,  and  whom  Mayor  Mitchell  of  New  York 
has  made  city  chamberlain,  sets  up  community  welfare  as  the  chief 
standard  for  all  forms  of  city  government,  and  enumerates  five 
phases  of  this  standard. 

First.  City  Planning.  This  is  provided  for  in  the  new  gov- 
ernment for  Dayton.  We  have  a  Department  of  Welfare,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  study  the  housing  conditions  that  exist  in  the  city ; 
to  study  the  health  of  our  people;  to  find  what  are  the  conditions 
as  to  poverty,  crime,  and  education ;  to  consider  all  such  subjects 
and  more,  and  report  to  the  commission  conditions  as  they  really 
exist,  with  proposed  legislation  for  improving  these  things.  There 
are  other  phases  of  city  planning — transportation,  water,  garbage, 
heat,  light,  power,  all  physical  conditions.  The  city  must  also  pro- 
vide adequately  for  the  future,  taking  into  account  conditions  as 
they  shall  probably  exist  fifty  or  one  hundred  years  in  the  future. 
We  formerly  have  been  planning  for  present  conditions  and  for 
next  year  or  the  year  after;  but  what  a  city  needs,  and  what  our 
new  charter  provides,  is  a  plan  that  takes  care  of  the  future  for 
fifty  or  one  hundred  years.  This  will  eliminate  mistakes  Hke  the 
city  of  New  York  made  when  they  built  the  great  East  River 
bridges ;  they  forgot  about  the  future  and  the  congestion  of  popula- 
tion and  how  they  would  want  to  get  over  into  Brooklyn  and  Long 
Island,  and  the  bridges  were  not  placed  correctly.  Millions  in- 
vested, and  still  the  bridges  are  inadequate,  chiefly  because  no  pro- 
vision was  made  for  a  comprehensive  city  plan. 

Second.  The  next  phase  of  the  question  to  which  Mr.  Burere 
calls  attention  is  the  form  of  city  government,  and  in  the  city  man- 
ager form  of  government,  we  are  convinced  that  we  have  the  most 
advanced  kind  of  municipal  government  in  the  United  States.  Our 
opinion  is  corroborated  by  the  approval  of  municipal  experts  all 
over  the  country.  It  provides  for  the  short  ballot,  the  ehmination  of 
all  party  designations,  the  initiative  and  referendum,  the  recall, 
the  protest,  and  all  progressive  forms. 

Third.  The  third  division  is  method,  or,  what  might  be  styled 
'method  management."  In  my  own  business,  what  I  most  desire 
is  method  management;  and  in  our  Church  I  wish  we  had  method 
management,  so  that  the  thing  which  is  to  be  done  does  not  get  done 


120  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

haphazardly.  If  the  city  of  Dayton  has  a  contract  for  work  to  be 
let,  or  wants  to  buy  merchandise,  or  employ  anybody,  the  method 
by  which  it  is  to  be  done  is  prescribed  in  the  city  charter,  and  even 
incompetent  men  cannot  go  wrong.  O  men  of  the  church,  that  is 
what  we.  need  in  the  church !  We  need  method  management,  and 
the  sooner  we  get  it,  the  more  we  will  get  out  of  it. 

Fourth.  The  personnel  of  the  city  officials.  Our  five  com- 
missioners are  business  men.  They  never  held  political  office,  and 
did  not  want  this  position,  but  for  the  sake  of  service  to  their  com- 
munity they  were  willing  to  make  the  sacrifice.  These  men  em- 
ployed a  city  manager  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  city,  a  man 
who  is  trained  and  knows  his  work.  The  heads  of  departments  em- 
ployed by  him  are  trained  men,  and  that  is  the  way  it  should  be 
done,  and  the  way  the  city  of  Dayton  is  doing  it  to-day. 

Fifth.  The  last  phase  is  an  efficient  citizenship.  I  want  to 
say  to  you  that  it  does  not  matter  what  plan  of  government  is  used, 
how  perfect  or  complete  it  is,  without  efficient  citizenship  it  must 
fail.  That  was  the  idea  that  was  back  of  the  conception  and  or- 
ganization of  the  Greater  Dayton  Association.  The  men  of  Dayton 
felt  that  back  of  this  government  and  the  men  who  were  to  admin- 
ister it  must  be  thrown  the  force  of  an  organized  public  opinion ; 
and  so  within  the  city  of  Dayton  there  are  seven  thousand  men  and 
women  who  are  members  of  a  great  civic  commercial  association, 
called  the  Greater  Dayton  Association,  whose  aim  is  community 
welfare,  the  stability  of  the  new  government,  and  its  success.  The 
Association  is  interested  in  whatever  is  best  for  the  city  of  Dayton, 
to  make  it  an  ideal  place  to  live  and  work  and  bring  up  one's 
children. 

Oh,  I  tell  you,  the  really  dangerous  citizen  is  not  the  agitator 
— the  really  dangerous  citizen  is  the  man  who  refuses  to  think, 
who  refuses  to  vote,  who  will  give  nothing  of  himself  in  service ! 
Just  think  of  conditions  as  they  existed  in  the  State  of  Ohio  when 
it  came  to  passing  the  constitutional  amendments!  Only  fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  voters  cast  their  vote.  Over  at  Columbus  yesterday 
they  adopted  a  new  charter.  There  was  a  small  registration,  and 
yet  only  forty  per  cent,  of  those  registering  voted  at  all. 

Dr.  William  H.  Allen,  head  of  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Re- 
search in  New  York  City,  made  what  is  to  me  a  very  remarkable 
statement:   "The  men  and  women  identified  with  religious  work 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  121 

could  abolish  misgovernment  if  they  would  work  together  for  def- 
inite, visible  ends  in  their  community."  Oh,  what  an  opportunity 
for  you  and  for  me,  by  uniting  with  other  men  and  other  denomina- 
tions, to  work  to  aboHsh  misgovernment! 

We,  the  citizens  of  Dayton,  did  a  remarkable  thing  after  the 
flood  had  almost  destroyed  us;  we  rallied  and  gave  two  million 
dollars  voluntarily  for  flood  prevention  work.  The  first  day  the 
flood  prevention  funds  were  due  and  payable  at  the  Dayton  Savings 
and  Trust  Company,  there  was  a  double  line  of  men  and  women 
from  the  inside  of  the  bank  out  to  the  sidewalk,  waiting  to  give 
their  money  away.  I  stood  in  the  bank  that  morning  and  looked 
at  that  double  line,  and  I  tell  you  I  was  thrilled  as  I  never  had 
been  thrilled  before — men  and  women  waiting  to  give  their  money 
away !  And  yet,  men  of  the  United  Brethren  Congress,  would  it 
not  be  a  more  inspiring  sight  if  we  could  see  men  and  women  iden- 
tified in  church  work  waiting  to  give  themselves  for  the  vindication 
of  democracy,  for  the  redemption  of  the  community  in  which  they 
live  and  where  they  bring  up  their  children  and  where  they  are  do- 
ing their  business.  Oh,  it  certainly  would  be  a  fine  thing!  And 
yet,  a  man's  ability  to  do  that  sort  of  thing  depends  upon  his  social 
view. 

THE    CHURCH    WITH    THE    SOCIAL   VIEW 

We  have  heard  a  lot  about  social  service,  social  view.  What  is 
it?  It  depends  upon  our  ability  to  love  people,  and  I  want  to  say 
to  you  that  my  conviction  is  firmly  fixed  that  a  man  cannot  have 
the  social  view,  or  love  people,  without  definite  religious  convic- 
tions. And  so  that  is  what  the  church  has  got  to  do — to  give  to 
the  people  of  the  community  in  which  it  is  located,  a  "love  of 
people"  and  a  "definite  social  view."  President  Wilson  says, 
"  'Righteousness  exalteth  the  nation'  and  'peace  on  earth  good  will 
to  men'  are  the  only  foundations  upon  which  can  be  built  the  lasting 
achievements  of  the  human  spirit." 

Cities  do  not  grow,  they  are  not  transformed  by  chance;  they 
are  built;  and  the  measure  of  the  strength  of  a  city  is  the  measure 
of  the  strength  of  its  inhabitants.  The  measure  of  the  intelligence 
of  a  city  is  the  measure  of  intelligence  of  its  citizens.  The  meas- 
ure of  the  efficiency  of  the  community  in  which  you  live  is  the 


122  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

measure  of  the  interest  and  enthusiasm  and  zeal  and  service  that 
you  give  to  your  community's  needs. 

Did  you  ever  read  Kipling's  "Human  Jelly  Fish"?     You  re- 
member that  Tomlinson  was  up  before  St.  Peter,  and  the  call  came, 
''Stand  up,  stand  up  now, 

And  answer,  loud  and  high. 
The  good  ye  did  for  the  sake  of  men 
And  ever  ye  came  to  die !" 

And  TomHnson  stood  on  one  foot  and  then  on  the  other,  and 
scratched  his  head  and  tried  to  think  of  something  he  had  done  for 
the  good  of  his  fellowman,  but  he  could  think  of  nothing.  All  at 
once  he  said,  "I  have  got  a  friend  down  there,  a  priest,  a  preacher ; 
ask  him  and  he  will  remember  the  testimony  I  offered  and  the  ex- 
periences I  related."  But  St.  Peter  would  not  accept  this  as  a  pass- 
port, and  again  Tomlinson  was  asked  to  ''stand  up,  and  answer, 
loud  and  high,"  and  tell  the  good  he  had  done  for  the  sake  of  man 
before  he  came  to  die.  And  again  he  scratched  his  head  and  again 
he  said,  "I  know  all  about  it;  I  have  read  what  ought  to  be  done" ; 
but  that  did  not  suffice. 

Men  of  this  conference,  do  not  be  human  jelly  fish.  Let  us  not 
only  just  have  a  feeling  in  our  hearts  about  these  things ;  let  us  not 
have  it  only  in  our  heads,  but  let  us  go  together  into  our  commun- 
ities, resolved  that  we  are  going  to  be  men,  and  men  interested  in 
real  community  welfare. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  IN  THE  STATE 

BY    G.    M.    MATHEWS 

Daniel  Webster  enunciated  a  fundamental  truth  when  he  de- 
clared that  Christianity  is  a  "part  of  the  law  of  the  land."  This 
nation  is  Christian.  It  stands  for  religious  liberty.  Our  fore- 
fathers did  not  write  the  word  "God"  into  the  constitution,  but  they 
incorporated  in  it  the  principles  of  freedom,  justice,  and  equality, 
taught  by  Christ.  Our  nation  was  born  out  of  a  struggle  for  con- 
science. 

The  Christian  in  the  state  has  a  twofold  relation  and  responsi- 
bility. The  Christian,  as  such,  stands  related  to  the  church  of 
Christ;  the  citizen,  as  such,  stands  related  to  the  state.    Plence  the 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  123 

discussion  of  this  theme  involves  the  consideration  of  the  church 
and  state  in  their  relation  to  each  other.  Both  the  church  and  state 
are  separate  entities,  but  have  a  common  origin.  Both  are  ordained 
of  God,  but  each  has  a  different  function.  Both  seek  the  same  ulti- 
mate end,  namely,  the  moral  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  people. 
The  church  seeks  to  make  men  good ;  the  state  aims  to  protect  good 
men  in  doing  good,  and  to  restrain  wicked  men  from  doing  evil. 
The  motive  of  the  church  is  love;  that  of  the  state  is  distributive 
justice.  Both  the  church  and  state  unite  in  the  building  up  of  good 
citizenship. 

This  is  a  great  achievement.  The  glory  of  the  nation  is  not  in 
the  extent  of  its  territory,  or  the  riches  of  its  soil,  or  in  its  material 
resources,  but  in  the  character  of  its  citizens.  Men,  not  things, 
make  a  nation.  As  her  citizens,  so  the  state.  When  President 
Angell  was  asked  by  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  whether  he  could  buy 
such  guns  as  Admiral  Dewey  used  at  Manila,  he  replied,  "Yes ;  but 
what  you  cannot  buy  are  the  men  behind  the  guns."  Said  Pericles, 
"Men,  not  walls,  make  a  city." 

Humboldt  once  remarked,  "Government,  religion,  property, 
books  are  nothing  but  scaffolding  to  build  a  man." 

Referring  to  the  power  of  personality,  Wendell  Philips  said  of 
America,  "You  may  build  your  capitol  of  granite  and  pile  it  as  high 
as  the  Rocky  Mountains,  if  it  is  founded  on  or  mixed  with  iniquity, 
the  pulse  of  a  girl  will,  in  time,  beat  it  down." 

The  loud  call  to  American  Protestantism  is  to  build  up  an 
American  nation  that  is  Christian,  with  an  individual,  social,  and 
national  conscience  that  shall  stand  for  all  that  is  clean  and  just  and 
righteous  in  the  republic. 

THE    SEPARATION   OF   CHURCH   AND   STATE 

Christian  citizenship  in  this  republic  does  not  allow  for  any 
essential  conflict  between  church  and  state,  such  as  has  existed  in 
other  lands.  History  reveals  the  humiliating  fact  that  in  other  coun- 
tries the  church  has  laid  its  hands  on  the  power  and  resources  of  the 
state,  while  the  state  has  laid  its  hands  on  the  privileges  of  the 
church  in  the  exercise  of  religious  liberty.  Our  fathers  came  to 
America  to  escape  from  this  evil  and  injustice. 

The  colonial  stock  of  America  was  composed  of  Scotch-Irish, 
Swiss,  Dutch,  German,  English,  and  Huguenot.  These  elements 
came  ircin  nortbern  Eurone  and  were  of  the  better  class.  They  were 


124  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

predominantly  Christian.  These  elements  entered  into  the  founda- 
tion of  our  nation's  fabric.  They  came  to  escape  from  the  union 
of  church  and  state,  because  they  believed  it  was  a  misinterpretation 
of  the  will  of  God  in  human  affairs. 

The  Federal  Constitution  established  the  fundamental  sepa- 
ration of  church  and  state,  and  is  hostile  to  all  ecclesiastical  inter- 
ference with  civil  government.  On  the  other  hand,  the  church  has 
no  political  power  or  functions.  It  seeks  to  promote  man's  spiritual 
welfare.  Its  authority  is  limited  to  the  will  of  its  constituents  who 
choose  to  remain  in  its  communion.  The  church  may  appeal  to  the 
state  for  protection,  but  not  for  material  aid  and  resources. 

This  principle  of  separation  in  favor  of  religious  freedom  is 
sacred  in  this  republic,  because  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  teaching 
of  Christ  and  Christian  conscience.  Jesus  recognized  this  funda- 
mental separation  when  he  said,  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world," 
and,  holding  up  a  coin  bearing  the  image  of  a  Roman  ruler,  he  gave 
the  wisest  answer  of  the  Christian  centuries  and  taught  obedience 
to  civil  law  in  secular  affairs  and  obedience  to  God  in  sacred  things 
in  the  words,  "Render  unto  Csesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's  and 
unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's." 

Peter  and  Paul,  while  acknowledging  that  all  civil  authority  is 
ordained  of  God  and  should  be  respected,  made  the  sharp  distinction 
that  when  civil  authorities  make  demands  of  the  Christian  contrary 
to  religious  duties  and  obligations,  they  should  be  denied.  Peter 
boldly  declared  that  in  these  things  "we  ought  to  obey  God  rather 
than  man." 

This  principle  took  deep  root  in  the  virgin  soil  of  America. 
Let  us  thank  God  for  the  heroism  of  our  forefathers  who  stood,  at 
great  cost,  for  the  principle  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  This 
principle  is  the  glory  of  our  republic,  and  it  is  up  to  the  Christian 
citizens  to  guard  and  defend  it.    It  is  too  sacred  to  be  trifled  with. 

Let  every  Christian  citizen  in  this  nation  say  to  any  and  all 
enemies  of  this  God-given  privilege,  "Hands  off,  now  and  ever- 
more." No  form  of  worship  shall  receive  state  endorsement.  No 
church  shall  have  state  support.  No  ecclesiastical  body  shall  lay 
hold  of  the  power  and  resources  of  the  state. 

THE  INTER-RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE 

And  yet  the  church  and  state  are  so  interrelated  and  inter- 
penetrated that  they  touch  each  other  at  many  points.    Their  intex*- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  125 

ests  are  interlocked.  The  church  is  in  the  state,  but  not  of  the  state. 
This  relationship  is  intimate  and  mighty,  in  all  that  pertains  to  our 
common  welfare.  The  Christian,  therefore,  assumes  a  high  and 
responsible  position  in  the  state  because  his  influence  inter-pene- 
trates society  in  the  various  relations,  activities,  and  enterprises  of 
public  life.  This  responsibility  is  tremendous,  and  should  be  dis- 
charged in  the  fear  of  God. 

Christianity  has  reached  a  crisis  in  its  relation  to  the  solution 
of  the  political,  social,  economic,  and  moral  problems  of  our  com- 
plex life.  The  forces  that  are  working  evil  in  the  state  can  only 
be  counteracted  by  Christian  influence  and  sentiment.  Ten  right- 
eous men  could  have  saved  Sodom,  and  ten  million  righteous  men  can 
save  America.  God  is  still  on  his  throne.  Christ  is  the  King  of  kings, 
and  his  power  is  being  felt  in  America.  Christianity  is  being  put 
to  a  severe  test  as  to  whether  her  representatives,  as  personal  units, . 
shall  stand  for  the  principles  of  righteousness,  equity,  and  fairness 
in  ail  individual,  social,  commercial,  and  governmental  affairs.  This 
is  no  time  to  bow  at  the  shrine  of  greed,  or  wink  at  demagogism, 
or  temporize  in  the  presence  of  patriotic  duty.  The  new  day  is 
upon  us  for  higher  and  better  things,  both  in  the  church  and  the 
state.  With  a  Christian  in  the  President's  chair,  a  Christian  in  the 
State  Department,  and  many  in  the  national  Congress  and  guberna- 
torial chairs,  the  imperative  call  of  the  new  day  is  for  every  Chris- 
tian citizen  to  rise  above  political  manipulations  and  party  domina- 
tion, and  seek  to  set  aside  the  unscrupulous  demagogue,  and  put 
righteous  men  who  fear  God  in  the  high  places  of  authority  and 
power. 

THE  PREACHER  IN  POLITICS 

The  Bible  now,  as  never  before,  comes  to  the  Christian  in  this 
country  with  a  distinct  message  concerning  the  responsibility  of 
Christian  citizenship  in  its  broader  application  to  human  society. 
It  furnishes  a  broad  program  for  social  and  civic  service.  It  teaches 
not  only  the  necessity  of  personal  salvation,  but  also  the  possibility 
of  the  realization  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth.  It  enforces 
not  only  the  sanctification  of  the  individual,  but  also  the  purifica- 
tion of  social  relations  and  the  promotion  of  civic  righteousness. 
Upon  this  broad  platform  the  Christian  of  to-day  should  stand.  He 
should  define  the  moral  ends  of  society  and  expound  the  moral 
principles   upon   which   human   rights   are  based,   which  principles 


126  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

should  govern  human  conduct  in  all  organized  moral  and  economic 
effort  and  movements  in  this  country.  In  other  words,  the  Chris- 
tian in  the  state  should  be  a  positive,  personal  unit  that  counts  for 
all  that  makes  for  social  and  national  righteousness.  He  is  under 
moral  and  patriotic  obligation  to  help  make  his  fellow  men  and  so- 
ciety better  by  his  participation  in  clean  politics. 

At  this  view  some  men  seem  to  be  shocked,  and  insist  that  no 
Christian  preacher  or  Christian  layman  should  engage  in  politics, 
basing  their  assertion  upon  the  principle  of  separation  of  church  and 
state.  But  separation  of  church  and  state  does  not  imply  that  indi- 
vidual Christians  shall  not  engage  in  political  affairs  and  form  vol- 
untary and  interdenominational  organizations  for  social  reform  and 
civic  righteousness.  The  Christian  has  sovereign  rights  as  well  as 
the  politician.  In  the  solidarity  of  human  society  each  Christian 
is  a  unit  related  to  every  other  unit,  with  evident  responsibility  of 
conduct.  They  are  all  involved  in  a  common  weal  or  woe,  and  the 
wise,  practical  preacher  and  layman  will  keep  both  feet  on  the  earth 
and  work  for  individual,  social,  civic,  and  moral  welfare  of  the 
nation. 

CHRISTIAN    MEN    AND    REGISTRATION    DAY 

The  Christian  has  a  right  to  insist  that  a  public  office  is  a  public 
trust,  and  in  the  higher  sense,  a  trust  from  God.  The  Christian 
voter  is  responsible  to  God  for  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  franchise. 
He  cannot,  without  responsibility  and  dereliction  of  duty,  absent 
himself  from  the  primary  and  keep  his  name  from  the  registration 
list,  by  which  he  may  register  his  conviction  against  evil  and  in  favor 
of  the  right.  Why  should  he  not  insist  upon  voting  for  men  that  are 
honest  and  trustworthy?  Why  not  demand  of  the  state,  through 
its  official  representatives,  the  enactment  and  enforcement  of  laws 
that  shall  prevent  exploiters  of  vice  from  tempting  men  and  making 
them  bad,  and  thus  degrading  society  ?  Why  not  count  mightily  for 
ethical  standards  and  moral  principles,  as  applied  to  all  the  affairs 
of  men? 

Says  Doctor  Batten,  in  'The  Social  Tasks  of  Christianity" : 
*Tn  the  United  States  there  are  over  thirty-four  million  church 
members — over  thirty-four  per  cent,  of  the  population — all  pro- 
fessing faith  in  Jesus  Christ  and  all  praying  for  the  coming  of  God's 
kingdom.  Suppose  these  people  were  united  in  their  efforts  to  abol- 
ish some  of  the  great  wrongs  of  the  world,  such  as  child  labor,  the 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  127 

liquor  traffic,  the  red-light  district,  city  slums,  the  desecration  of  the 
rest  day,  municipal  corruption,  and  corporate  oppression;  suppose 
they  should  join  hands  in  their  efforts  to  secure  justice  for  all,  to 
provide  playgrounds  for  children,  to  save  boys  and  girls  from  a  life 
of  vice,  to  widen  the  door  of  opportunity  for  all,  to  build  more  san- 
itary cities,  to  give  every  life  a  true  inheritance  in  society — to  create 
a  better  and  more  moral  social  atmosphere  for  all — how  long  would 
it  be  before  the  wrongs  would  be  abolished  ?" 

Suppose  it  were  understood  that  it  is  the  function  of  Christian- 
ity to  unite  men  into  one  great  fellowship  of  love  and  brotherhood 
and  service,  and  then  mobilize  them  into  one  army  for  a  campaign 
for  the  kingdom. 

Suppose  Christian  men  realized  that  their  supreme  business  is 
to  organize  and  create  a  just,  fraternal,  happy,  Christian  state  on 
earth,  how  long  would  it  be  before  the  streets  of  the  new  city  would 
be  laid  and  the  walls  of  the  holy  city  would  begin  to  appear? 

THE  STATE  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Now,  in  the  building  up  of  a  vigorous,  intelligent  citizenship, 
the  state  must  assume  its  share  of  responsibility.  First,  the  state 
must  assist  in  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  its  youth.  No 
greater  question  can  concern  it  than  that  of  the  giving  to  the  youth 
of  every  community  proper  training  in  moral  conduct  and  religious 
convictions.  Religious  education  of  the  youth  is  the  supreme  prob- 
lem of  to-day,  which  the  state  dare  not  ignore  or  neglect.  This  is 
why  the  demand  for  the  use  of  the  Bible  in  the  public  school  is 
imperative  and  increasing.  The  potent  influence  of  the  Bible  as  a 
religious  educator  of  the  young  life  of  the  nation  is  more  and  more 
evident. 

General  Grant  declared  that  ''the  Bible  is  the  sheet-anchor  of 
our  liberties."  General  Jackson,  as  he  lay  on  his  death-bed,  pointing 
to  the  family  Bible,  said,  'That  Book,  sir,  is  the  rock  on  which  the 
republic  rests." 

We  are  not  an  infidel  nation.  We  recognize  the  authority  of 
religion  and  the  Bible  as  the  supreme  Book  of  books.  No  nation 
can  erect  a  great  and  abiding  civilization  without  the  inculcation  of 
its  truths  and  principles.  The  only  hope  of  our  strength  and  per- 
petuity lies  in  the  training  of  our  youth  to  become  Christian  patriots, 
so  as  to  become  good  citizens.  If  I  had  my  way,  I  would  not  only 
have  the  flag  float  over  every  school-house  in  the  land,  but  I  would 


128  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

have  the  Bible  used  in  every  school-room  by  the  authority  of  law, 
for  religion  is  necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of 
the  people. 

I  appeal  to  the  men  of  the  Congress  to  see  to  it,  that  the  patri- 
otic citizenship  of  this  country  shall  resist  any  and  all  ecclesiastical 
influence  and  effort  to  banish  and  keep  the  Bible  from  our  public 
schools.  Let  no  church  or  organization  place  its  hostile  linger  on 
the  Word  of  God. 

FOR  THE  OVERTHROW  OF  THE  MODERN  JERICHO 

Then  in  the  interest  of  good  citizenship  and  good  government, 
the  state  must  help  the  Christian  church  to  take  the  Jericho  of  to-day 
— the  liquor  traffic. 

The  war  is  on.  The  war  is  for  extermination.  There  can  be 
no  compromise  or  mediation  for  peace.  The  liquor  traffic  has  no 
commendable  features.  It  is  the  chief  hurt  of  the  nation.  It  is  in 
league  with  all  forms  of  evil.  It  is  the  prolific  source  of  corruption 
and  crime.  Its  fruits  are  cruelty,  debauchery,  and  murder.  It  is 
the  deadliest  enemy  of  the  American  home.  It  can  not  be  legalized 
without  sin.  It  has  no  rightful  place  in  our  modern  civilization.  It 
stands  convicted  at  the  bar  of  all  nations  as  the  enemy  of  the  home, 
industry,  morality,  and  the  church.  It  causes  two-thirds  of  the 
crime,  one-third  of  the  idiocy,  and  three-fourths  of  the  poverty 
in  this  country.  It  is  the  wholesale  despoiler  of  the  race,  and  the 
conspirator  against  decency,  order,  and  righteousness.  It  lays  its 
withering,  blighting,  ruinous  hand  upon  the  manhood  and  woman- 
hood, girlhood  and  boyhood  of  this  nation.  It  is  a  poison  that  has 
entered  into  the  veins  of  our  body  politic,  and"  is  eating  out  the  very 
life  of  our  commonwealth.  This  social  disease  needs  constitutional 
treatment.    This  poison  must  be  eliminated  from  the  veins  of  society. 

This  iniquitous  traffic  is  doomed.  The  handwriting  is  on  the 
wall.  It  is  trembling  like  Belteshazzar  of  old.  Nearly  fifty  million 
people,  covering  two-thirds  of  the  territorial  area  of  this  country, 
have  outlawed  the  saloon.  The  heroic  womanhood,  with  their  votes, 
are  putting  this  enemy  to  rout  in  many  States,  and  now  Secretary 
Daniels  has  issued  an  order  prohibiting  all  intoxicating  liquors  from 
the  navy  vessels  on  the  sea  and  from  the  shore  stations.  And  all  the 
Christian  reform  forces  have  joined  a  united  movement  to  go  "on  to 
Washington"  to  influence  our  national  Congress  to  provide  for  the 
passage  of  a  Constitutional  amendment  that  shall  lay  the  ax  at  the 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  129 

root  of  the  tree,  and  prohibit  the  manufacture,  sale,  irriportation, 
exportation,  and  transportation  of  intoxicating  Hquors  in  this  land. 
God  is  marching  on,  and  we  expect  victory  to  come  by  1920,  when 
the  Government  shall  be  put  out  of  the  liquor  business,  and  the 
liquor  business  shall  be  put  out  of  the  Government,  and  for  the  sake 
of  God  and  home  and  native  land,  we  shall  have  a  stainless  flag,  a 
saloonless  nation,  and  a  liberated  humanity ! 

"We  are  coming  from  the  cities 
Where  teeming  millions  dwell, 

From  the  village,  from  the  hamlet, 
In  the  quiet,  lovely  dell. 

"We  are  coming  from  the  rural  homes 

That  stretch  from  sea  to  sea, 
And  have  ever  been  the  guardians 

Of  this  land  of  liberty. 

"We  are  coming  from  the  factories, 
From  the  furnace  and  the  forge, 

We  are  coming  from  the  churches, 
As  the  children  of  the  Lord. 

"We  are  coming  from  the  halls  of  science, 

Where  the  truest  tests  declare, 
That  alcohol's  a  poison, 
A  deception  and  a  snare. 

"We  come  from  city  councils. 

This  faithful  truth  to  tell, 
That  graft  and  vice  are  offsprings 

Of  this  agency  of  hell. 

"We  come  from  courts  of  justice, 
Where  his  brazen  lackeys  plead, 

All  laws  are  disregarded 

That  would  curb  his  cruel  greed. 

"We  are  coming  from  the  judge's  bench, 
And  from  the  governor's  chair. 

We  are  coming  from  the  statehouse. 
No  longer  bound  by  fear. 


130  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

"From  our  nation's  Senate  chamber, 
From  our  Federal  Congress  hall, 

Where  at  last  they've  caught  the  vision 
And  are  answering  to  the  call. 

"By  the  orphaned  cry  of  children, 
By  the  tears  of  mothers  shed, 

As  they  bend  in  stricken  sorrow- 
Above  their  murdered  dead. 

"By  the  prison's  cruel  dungeon, 

With  its  heav}^  iron  door. 
That  have  shut  out  hope  and  manhood, 

From  a  million  bright-eyed  boys, 

"Who  were  caught  and  bound  and  fettered 

Ere  the  day  of  youth  had  passed. 

By  this  friend  that  knows  no  pity, 

Only  mocks  them  in  his  wrath. 

"By  the  million  fair-faced  lassies, 
Who've  been  sold  as  slaves  to  vice, 

By  the  agents  of  the  brothels, 

Where  this  monster  rules  in  might. 

"We  pledge  our  time  and  talents 
And  our  lives,  if  that  need  be ; 

To  drive  this  cruel  tyrant 
From  the  land  of  liberty. 

"So  we  raise  aloft  our  standard. 

And  will  keep  it  floating  high, 
'Neath  the  star-emblazoned  banner, 
King  Alcohol  must  die." 

Oh,  men  of  this  Congress,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from 
the  North  and  the  South,  God  help  you  to  go  back  to  your  homes 
and  communities  with  these  convictions,  as  Christian  citizens,  and 
tell  them  that  this  Congress  and  this  Church,  in  practice  and  prin- 
ciple, stands  for  total  abstinence,  for  the  individual  and  total  prohi- 
bition for  the  State,  in  the  interest  of  an  intelligent,  virile.  Christian 
citizenship  that  shall  sit  as  a  diadem  on  the  brow  of  this  imperial 
republic. 


LEADERSHIP  NECESSARY  TO  ACCOMPLISH 
OUR  TASKS 


MINISTERIAL    LEADERSHIP    NECESSARY  TO   ACCOM- 
PLISH OUR  TASKS 

BY  WALTER  G.   CLIPPINGER 

Social  progress  is  made  through  leadership.  Whether  im- 
plicitly or  explicitly,  nevertheless,  there  is  a  recognition  that  one 
must  lead  and  the  rest  must  follow  in  all  kinds  of  social  organ- 
izations. The  leader  may  be  appointed  or  he  may  be  unconsciously 
or  subconsciously  recognized  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  willing 
to  follow. 

In  recent  years  the  question  of  leadership  among  psychologists 
has  come  to  have  large  place  in  their  thinking.  Men  are  writing 
books  and  chapters  of  very  important  books  upon  the  great  question 
of  leadership,  as  applied  not  only  to  the  religious  life,  but  to  politi- 
cal and  all  other  forms  of  social  life. 

I  suppose  the  simplest  illustration  of  the  importance  of  leader- 
ship is  observed  in  the  lower  orders  of  life,  how  it  is  that  one  bird 
leads  and  the  flock  follows ;  that  one  animal  in  the  herd  sets  the  pace 
and  all  the  rest  follow.  And  then  coming  up  into  the  higher  orders, 
how  it  is  that,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  there  is  some  one  man 
or  woman,  some  individual  from  our  group,  whether  it  be  in  reli- 
gion or  some  other  form  of  life,  whom  we  recognize  as  having  spe- 
cial powers,  whether  native  or  acquired,  that  make  him  or  her 
superior  to  ourselves  and  by  virtue  of  which  we  are  willing  to  fol- 
low. There  must  be  a  captain  to  the  ship ;  there  must  be  a  general 
to  the  army ;  there  must  be  a  president  of  a  society ;  there  must  be 
a  chairman  of  a  committee. 

NATIVE  ELEMENTS  OF  LEADERSHIP 

I  want  to  confine  myself  strictly  to  the  subject  of  ministerial 
leadership.  I  propose  to  define  for  ourselves  some  of  the  marks 
of  ministerial  leadership,  those  which  are  native  and  particularly 

131 


132  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

those  which  are  acquired.  Those  which  are  native,  which  are  in- 
born, are  not  so  much  for  our  serious  consideration,  because  we 
have  them  whether  we  have  wished  for  them  or  not.  No  one  gave 
them  to  us;  no  one  can  take  them  away  from  us.  But  I  want  to 
emphasize  those  acquired  marks  of  leadership,  which  we  can  get 
and  which  we  can  lose ;  which  we  may  cultivate  and  which  we  may 
neglect. 

There  are  certain  native  marks  of  leadership  which  are  recog- 
nized in  animals  of  all  kinds — a  certain  kind  of  physical  and  mental 
strength.  It  goes  without  saying  that  a  man  who  is  endowed  with 
a  fine  physical  presence  has  something  which  some  of  the  rest  lack. 

There  is  a  kind  of  mental  attitude  which  makes  some  men 
leaders.  A  very  interesting  mark  of  leadership  is  noticed  in  a  man 
who  says  less  than  he  does ;  one  who  has  a  certain  amount  of  mental 
reserve,  a  peculiar  kind  of  silence,  and  at  the  same  time  is  a  wise 
and  prudent  man.  That  is  one  of  the  quiet  marks  of  leadership. 
They  say  that  even  among  bad  boys,  the  strong  leader  is  the  quiet 
one  who  doesn't  say  very  much;  and  I  suppose  that  among  good 
men  it  is  equally  true.  It  is  a  mark  of  leadership  when  a  man  does 
more  than  he  says,  when  he  speaks  little  about  what  he  does,  but 
gets  a  great  many  things  done.  It  is  an  inborn  trait;  I  don't  think 
that  it  could  very  well  be  acquired. 

Another  quality  is  personal  enthusiasm,  that  inner  glow  which 
I  can  scarcely  describe.  You  don't  quite  understand  it  and  I  don't 
understand  it.  It  is  that  something  within  the  individual  which  is 
catching — a  contagious  personality,  you  might  say,  a  friendliness, 
an  interest  in  people.  Some  of  us  have  it  and  some  of  us  do  not 
have  it.    Those  who  have  it  ought  to  be  grateful  for  it. 

There  are  still  other  marks  which  might  be  mentioned  as  native 
marks  of  leadership.  But  I  don't  care  to  emphasize  the  native  qual- 
ities. If  we  do  not  have  them,  we  shall  never  be  able  to  acquire 
them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  thing  to  which  I  want  to  call  atten- 
tion is  the  acquired  characteristics  which  I  am  sure  all  of  us  as 
ministers  can  develop  more  or  less. 

ACQUIRED   ELEMENTS   OF   LEADERSHIP 

I  turn  very  quickly,  then,  to  the  first  mark  of  leadership  which 
I  would  name,  a  pure  and  spotless  life.  I  have  been  reading  lately 
a  book  touching  upon  the  great,  broad  question  of  leadership,  in 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  133 

which  there  is  one  remarkable  chapter  entitled  "The  Power  of  a 
Blameless  Life,"  which  is  saying  pretty  nearly  the  same  thing  as 
the  power  of  a  clean  and  spotless  life.  Of  all  things  which  a  man 
may  possess,  whether  native  or  acquired,  there  is  no  one  thing 
which  is  so  invincible,  so  impregnable,  and  so  powerful  in  its  influ- 
ence upon  people,  whether  a  man  be  put  in  official  positions  or 
whether  in  positions  of  private  life  and  leadership,  as  that  of  a 
faultless  Hfe. 

Let  us  be  frank  with  one  another  and  admit  that  in  many 
churches  there  are  lying  around,  here  and  there,  skeletons  of  a 
thoughtless  and  indiscreet  life  of  some  form  or  other,  which  some 
of  us  have  to  face  and  which  stand  in  the  way  of  the  pastor  who 
left  and  the  pastor  who  follows.  More  and  more  we  are  empha- 
sizing the  importance  of  the  educational  aspect  of  our  life  and 
Church,  but  we  should  never  lose  sight  of  the  importance  of  this 
personal  influence  and  enthusiasm  which  is  so  contagious.  The 
little  boys  and  girls  do  not  understand  it,  but  nevertheless  they 
recognize  it.  My  mind  runs  back  this  morning  to  a  certain  min- 
ister who  in  my  early  boyhood  days  came  into  our  home.  He  was 
with  us  only  once  in  a  while,  every  three  or  four  weeks,  but  there 
came  to  be  a  strong  attachment  between  us.  As  I  try  to  analyze 
his  character,  the  one  thing  that  stands  out  is,  not  his  preaching 
power,  for  he  was  not  a  great  preacher;  not  his  scholarship,  for  he 
was  not  a  great  scholar;  and  not  a  lot  of  other  things  that  could 
be  mentioned ;  but  this  one  thing :  that  I  cannot  recall  a  single  thing 
that  was  ever  said  against  that  man's  character.  He  was  noble, 
true,  and  clean ;  gallant  in  his  relations  toward  women ;  fine  in  his 
spirit;  gentle  in  his  touch.  He  had  a  personal  refinement,  the  like 
of  which,  as  a  boy  at  least,  I  had  never  seen  in  another  man.  What 
a  benediction  that  man  is  to  me  to-day — the  memory  of  that  good 
man!  And  that,  after  all,  is  the  thing,  the  power  and  influence  of 
a  pure  and  spotless  body  and  life. 

Another  mark  of  leadership  is  knowledge.  Knowledge  of  what  ? 
Knowledge  of  one's  subject.  I  suppose  if  we  were  to  ask.  Who  Is 
the  great  leader  in  the  scientific  thought  of  to-day?  we  would  al- 
most instinctively  turn  to  Mr.  Edison.  Why  ?  Not  because  he  goes 
out  into  the  world,  not  because  he  has  ever  been  placed  in  a  posi- 
tion of  trust  and  importance,  but  simply  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that 
he  knows.     Because  he  knows  his  subject,  he  is  the  leader, 


134  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

Leadership  among  ministers  implies  a  knowledge  of  their  sub- 
ject. What  is  their  subject?  First  of  all,  I  should  say,  God.  God 
is  a  great  part  of  the  theme  of  a  minister's  life  and  his  ministry  to 
people.  Knowledge  of  God  and  knowledge  of  self  and  knowledge 
of  people — I  suppose  when  we  have  stated  those  three  things,  that 
if  a  man  knows  God  well,  and  if  he  understands  himself  well,  and 
then  if  he  understands  folks  with  whom  he  has  to  deal  and  for 
whom  he  ministers,  he  has  a  vast  fund  of  knowledge.  I  think  the 
trouble  with  most  of  us  is,  we  don't  understand  ourselves,  and  we 
haven't  got  close  enough  to  God  to  understand  his  will  and  his  plan 
concerning  us  and  the  world,  and  by  virtue  of  that  we  fail  as 
leaders. 

The  leader  must  be  a  man  of  authority,  and  by  virtue  of  the 
knowledge  that  he  has  of  his  subject,  he  becomes  a  man  of  authority. 
And  I  suppose  we  only  need  to  consult  our  own  experience  and 
observation  to  admit  that  we  bow  with  respect  and  submission  to 
the  man  of  authority  in  any  one  subject.  This  is  a  day  of  special- 
ization. In  medical  science  we  have  split  up  all  the  forms  of  med- 
icine into  various  kinds  of  specialties,  and  when  we  have  trouble  of 
a  certain  kind,  we  call  the  specialist.  If  our  eyes  are  sick,  we  go 
to  the  oculist;  if  we  are  sick  at  heart,  we  go  to  the  heart  specialist, 
and  if  we  have  nervous  trouble,  we  go  to  the  nerve  specialist.  Why? 
Because  they  know  those  subjects.  And  the  time  is  here,  it  seems 
to  me,  when  the  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  must  stand  out  as  the  man 
who  knows  God  and  God's  Word.  He  must  understand  himself 
and  his  people  thoroughly,  and  when  people  become  conscious  of  a 
fund  of  knowledge  in  the  minister,  they  will  bow  with  respect  to 
his  authority;  they  will  respond  to  his  leadership. 

He  must  be  a  man  of  vision.  Much  has  been  said  of  vision  dur- 
ing these  days,  and  I  am  very  glad  for  the  emphasis  that  has  been 
placed  on  that.  But  when  I  say  vision,  I  do  not  mean  those  fanci- 
ful notions  which  men  stir  up  within  their  souls,  but  I  mean  a 
rational  vision  of  things  as  they  are  and  ought  to  be — the  great 
world  as  it  now  exists  and  as  it  ought  to  be  if  we  take  our  place  in 
the  world  of  activity  as  we  should. 

The  great  movements  of  the  world  to-day,  in  the  church  and 
other  social  organizations,  have  a  tendency  to  give  us  a  vision  of 
the  large  opportunities  which  are  ours.  That  suggests  that  the 
moment  a  minister  gets  the  vision,  he  receives  a  new  inspiration 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  135 

for  service;  a  new  vision  for  goodness  within  himself,  a  new  pas- 
sion for  work.  It  suggests  singleness  of  aim.  When  a  man  gets  a 
proper  conception  of  his  own  place  as  a  ministerial  leader  in  the 
world  of  God,  just  that  moment  he  centralizes  his  effort  on  the 
very  work  to  which  he  is  called,  and  he  will  emphasize  to  himself, 
"This  one  thing  I  do."  And  I  should  like  to  suggest  this :  The  min- 
ister's task  is  so  large,  the  opportunities  so  great,  so  inspiring  the 
field  and  so  wide  the  work,  that  he  has  neither  time  nor  strength, 
nor  should  he  have  any  purpose  for  the  carrying  of  side  lines.  I 
have  no  patience  with  a  man  who  is  espoused  to  the  cause  of  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  and  then  carries  one,  two,  three,  or  half  a 
dozen  different  lines  at  the  same  time. 

Another  mark  is,  a  capacity  for  hard  work.  Some  of  us  think 
we  are  working  hard  when  we  are  not.  Some  of  us  work  so  en- 
thusiastically that  we  do  not  think  we  are  working  hard  when  we 
are.  Perhaps  there  is  no  other  man  in  any  profession  who  has  so 
little  restriction  and  restraint  as  the  minister  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  man  in  the  factory  must  check  in  on  the  time  clock, 
the  man  in  the  school  must  teach  a  certain  number  of  hours,  but 
there  is  no  master  to  the  minister.  He  has  no  foreman  or  superin- 
tendent, he  has  no  time  clock  for  registration.  He  can  work  as 
many  hours  as  he  pleases,  or  he  can  loaf  as  much  as  he  pleases. 
I  should  like  to  say  this  kindly  and  sympathetically,  and  you  will 
agree  with  me  it  is  true,  if  there  were  a  time  clock  where  ministers 
should  register  the  hours  of  work  they  do,  some  of  us  would  be  paid 
half  the  salaries  that  we  get  and  lose  our  job  at  the  end  of  the 
year.  And  then  there  are  others  who  would  become  conscious  that 
they  are  working  over  time  every  day  and  every  year.  The  min- 
ister has  the  greatest  opportunity  to  soldier,  but  he  also  has  the 
greatest  opportunity  to  expend  himself  to  the  fullest  endurance  of 
his  body. 

Another  mark  of  leadership  is  willingness  to  be  forgotten,  to 
make  of  one's  self  a  living  sacrifice,  forgetful  of  his  selfish  interests 
— forgetting  the  largeness  or  smallness  of  one's  salary;  forgetting 
the  element  of  time ;  forgetting  his  own  personal  interest  and  look- 
ing only  to  the  glory  of  his  profession  and  the  bringing  of  men  in 
close  relation  with  God. 

A  minister  is  a  prophet  to  bring  God  down  to  men.  He  is  a 
priest  to  bring  men  up  to  God.     He  is  a  pastor  whose  business  is 


136  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

to  shepherd  God's  sheep.  He  is  an  executive  and  administrator  to 
manage  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom.  He  is  an  evangehst  to  win  the 
souls  of  men  and  turn  them  to  God.  He  is  a  missionary  to  extend 
the  borders  and  boundaries  of  God's  kingdom.  He  is  an  educator 
to  cultivate  the  minds  and  souls  of  men  in  the  Christian  graces.  To 
combine  all  these  qualities  is  considered  the  finest  kind  of  leader- 
ship known  to  men,  and  make  one  to  be  a  prince  of  God  among 
men. 


LAY  LEADERSHIP  NECESSARY  TO  ACCOMPLISH  OUR 

TASK 

BY  G.  D.  BATDORF 

A  man  is  worth  only  as  much  as  he  is  worth  to  his  fellow-men. 
The  permanent  value  of  this  great  gathering  will  be  measured  by 
our  ability  and  willingness  to  transmute  its  impassioned  purposes 
and  translate  its  radiant  glories  into  actual  experience  and  definite 
action  among  our  people  in  the  home  churches^  to  which  we  belong. 

The  judgment  of  history  has  always  divided  the  race  of  men 
into  two  classes,  and  thus  honored  or  dishonored  them.  Religion 
classifies  men  into  the  good  and  the  bad ;  education  into  the  learned 
and  the  ignorant;  money  into  the  rich  and  the  poor;  hygiene  and 
medicine  into  the  well  and  the  sick ;  and  automobiles  into  the  quick 
and  the  dead.  In  the  work  of  the  church  it  is  also  true  that  there 
are  two  classes ;  those  who  lead  and  those  who  follow. 

Great  multitudes  in  all  our  churches  are  willing  to  follow  when 
the  voice  of  authority  calls  them.  The  frequent  failures  in  our 
work  and  the  slow  progress  in  the  kingdom's  advance  are  due  not 
to  the  failure  and  indifference  of  the  many,  but  to  the  failure  of  the 
few.  It  is  here  that  the  church  hesitates  and  falters.  The  task  of 
securing  the  right  kind  of  leadership  is  one  of  our  greatest  problems. 
Its  value  and  inevitableness  must  be  recognized  by  those  who  are 
directly  responsible  for  the  development  of  the  church's  marvelous 
resources  and  the  relating  of  her  hidden  powers  to  the  unfinished 
tasks  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

THE   MARKS  OF  THE   LEADER 

A  leader  is  a  person  who  knows  the  way,  and  who  bears  in  his 
character  the  marks  of  a  divine  passion  and  an  intense  human  sym- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  137 

pathy.  He  knows  the  deeper  meaning  of  suffering,  self-denial,  self- 
sacrifice,  and  loneliness.  While  he  goes  before  and  always  keeps 
in  advance,  his  life  is  one  with  his  brethren.  He  has  the  power  of 
enabling  other  people  to  see  what  he  sees,  to  feel  what  he  feels,  and 
to  desire  what  he  desires.  The  tug  that  pulls  at  his  heart,  the  im- 
pulses and  passions  and  purposes  that  move  and  sway  him,  are  trans- 
mitted to  others  until  the  whole  multitude  feels  the  thrill  of  his  lofty 
purposes  and  catches  the  gleam  of  his  vision.  The  leader  walks  in 
the  higher  altitudes  wdth  God,  and  shares  in  the  secrets  of  the  Lord. 
His  heart  is  daily  burdened  that  all  the  rest  may  share  in  all  these 
greater  glories. 

''Who  best  can  drink  his  cup  of  woe. 

Triumphant  over  pain, 
Who  patient  bears  his  cross  below. 

He  follows  in  his  train." 
The  leader  is  the  one  whom  others  gladly  follow  in  the  enlarg- 
ing work  of  the  church.  For  such  a  type  of  leadership  the  churches 
are  calling.  The  program  and  policy  of  this  Congress,  as  it  will 
come  before  our  denomination  in  all  of  its  world-wide  sweep,  makes 
the  need  all  the  more  urgent.  Unless  men  shall  be  found  to  lead,  the 
glowing  vision  remains  untranslated  and  will  fade  away,  and  the 
passions  and  purposes  will  die  without  conquest.  The  crises 
in  the  history  of  nations  in  these  marvelous  days  make  this  time 
significant  above  all  times.  Some  one  must  discover  from  among 
the  ranks  of  our  membership,  men  and  women  who  have  the  God- 
touched  soul  and  relate  them  vitally  to  the  conquering  movements 
of  the  kingdom. 

EVERY   LAYMAN   A   LEADER 

Work  for  men  and  by  men  has  now  come  to  have  the  first 
place.  Too  long  the  biggest  end  of  the  task  was  left  to  the  women. 
They  have  faithfully  fulfilled  their  devotion,  and  in  the  years  of 
the  cross's  history  and  conquest,  have  fully  atoned  for  that  first  place 
in  the  transgression  which  brought  to  the  race  our  sin  and  all  our 
woe.  It  is  important  that  men  take  their  rightful  and  responsible 
place  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Dr.  O.  P.  Gifford's  witty  paraphrase 
of  Longfellow's  familiar  stanza  is  only  too  true. 

"In  the  world's  broad  field  of  battle, 
In  the  bivouac  of  life, 


138  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

It  is  found  that  the  average  layman, 
Is  represented  by  his  wife." 

Men  can  and  do  lead.  They  lead  their  fellow-men  into  wrong, 
and  they  will  lead  them  back  to  Christ  and  his  service  also.  There 
is  no  greater  winning  force  anywhere  than  men,  men  controlled  in 
every  fact  and  purpose  of  their  being  by  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God. 

There  is  need  for  a  strong  and  an  efficient  lay  leadership  in 
personal  evangelism ;  in  praying  and  giving ;  in  the  introduction  and 
application  of  sound  and  aggressive  business  methods  in  all  the  work 
of  the  church;  in  cultivating  and  deepening  the  spiritual  life  until 
it  blooms  and  abounds ;  in  relating  all  our  local  congregations  to 
world  movements  and  world  tasks.  The  historian  Gibbon  gives  as 
his  explanation  for  the  rapid  spread  of  Christianity  in  the  early 
centuries,  the  fact  that  the  individual  Christian  held  himself  respon- 
sible to  spread  the  blessings  which  he  had  received,  within  the 
sphere  of  his  daily  calling.  The  laymen  in  the  church  of  this  cen- 
tury must  make  Christianity  mean  to  this  age  what  it  meant  in  that 
age.  Some  of  the  strongest  men  in  every  church  are  practically 
doing  nothing  in  the  broader  work  of  the  kingdom.  They  attend 
church  once  a  week,  it  may  be,  and  make  their  contribution,  but 
there  it  all  ends.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  there  is  no  enthusiasm  and 
little  joy  in  the  Christian  life?  A  man's  life  is  his  greatest  asset, 
and  this  brings  his  greatest  opportunity  for  service.  Until  his  life 
flows  out  in  service,  he  has  withheld  his  best  from  God  and  the 
church. 

A  JOB  BIG  ENOUGH  FOR  MEN 

God  sets  before  men  a  great  ideal  of  conquest.  It  is  an  inspir- 
ing thing  to  recall  that  our  Lord  is  to  become  the  crowned  King  of 
all  the  earth,  and  he  calls  to  every  man  for  a  consecration  of  life  and 
gifts  commensurate  with  such  an  heroic  objective.  The  best  of  life 
is  attained,  and  sanctified  human  leadership  rises  to  its  greatest 
strength  in  the  attempt  to  do  what  is  difficult  and  in  planning  to 
achieve  that  which  to  all  human  reason  and  capacity  is  impossible. 
God  calls  men  to  gigantic  enterprises  and  impels  his  children  to 
''will  the  immortal  things,"  that  the  divine  strength  may  crown  the 
human  answer  so  that  greater  works  will  be  accomplished  that  the 
world  may  marvel. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  139 

It  is  no  easy  task  to  which  the  Christian  men  of  this  generation 
are  summoned.  Our  Lord  never  invited  his  disciples  to  an  easy  life. 
There  v^as  no  hiding  of  the  sharp,  flinty  rock,  no  softening  of  the 
deep  shadov^,  no  gilding  of  the  cross.  He  called  them  to  a  career 
of  hardship,  patient  endurance,  self-sacrifice,  and  the  conquest  of  a 
world.  Did  they  halt  and  hesitate?  Did  they  ask  to  be  released 
from  their  commission  ?  Nay  !  Rather,  that  challenge  aroused  them 
and  kindled  their  spirits  into  a  burning  passion  and  an  inextinguish- 
able enthusiasm.  History  bears  testimony  that  this  appeal  was  not 
in  vain.  The  program  remains  unchanged.  The  challenge  is  still 
the  same.  No  other  incentive  is  offered  except  that  the  task  is  big 
and  difficult. 

God  has  given  all  of  us  hearts  big  enough  to  love  and  cherish 
the  world.  He  has  endowed  us  with  intellects  and  capacities  enough 
to  plan  successfully  for  the  conquest  of  this  whole  planet  for  him. 
The  world  needs  to  be  conquered,  and  men  need  a  world  to  conquer. 
Big  men  must  be  attracted  and  their  strength  enlisted  by  big  enter- 
prises. Our  strongest  men  are  enlisted  only  when  a  great  challenge 
summons  them.  It  takes  a  big  thing  to  shock  such  men  into  atten- 
tion, arouse  them  into  action,  and  bring  them  to  the  conquest.  We 
must  approach  our  men  on  the  plane  of  the  imperial  magnitude  of 
the  work.  Get  them  to  "study  larger  maps,"  and  bring  them  to 
speak  and  think  in  terms  of  world  proportions.  When  men  once 
see  the  sweep  of  these  possibilities  and  feel  the  thrill  and  grip  of 
their  meaning,  no  man  will  be  satisfied  with  less  than  God  has 
planned. 

DEFINITE  TASKS   AND  A  VISION 

One  of  the  essential  things  to  do  in  the  way  of  awakening  an 
efficient  leadership  is  to  place  definitely  before  men  and  the  churches 
the  statement  of  the  whole  church's  program  and  responsibility. 
Our  men  are  not  perverse  and  stubborn.  Most  of  them  are  sincerely 
seeking  to  make  their  life  count  for  the  most  possible.  When  they 
are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  church's  responsibility,  so  that  they 
see  clearly,  and  the  passion  of  it  all  consumes  them,  their  co-oper- 
ation will  have  been  secured  and  inevitably  their  lives  will  flow  into 
the  proper  place  of  service  and  leadership. 

No  better  thing  could  possibly  be  done  for  many  of  our  men 
than  to  bring  them  into  direct  touch  with  a  conference  such  as  this. 


140  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

The  convictions  and  purposes,  the  visions  and  passion  and  objec- 
tives of  this  Congress  will  infinitely  enrich  every  life  that  abides 
under  its  flow.  It  was  in  a  gathering  somewhat  similar  that  one  of 
God's  great  noblemen — a  modest  layman — found  his  true  life  and 
was  made  the  enriching  fountain  of  one  of  the  mightiest  religious 
movements  of  these  times.  In  the  Student  Volunteer  Convention  at 
Nashville  this  young  man  sat  and  listened.  His  heart  was  thrilled 
and  moved  by  the  inspiration  of  that  gathering.  One  night  he  saw 
one  hundred  young  men  and  women  give  themselves  to  the  work  of 
foreign  missions.  Then  he  said  to  himself,  *Tf  the  business  men  of 
America  could  see  what  I  see  and  hear  what  I  am  hearing  to-night, 
they  would  rise  up  at  once  and  furnish  the  money  and  the  life  to 
evangelize  the  world."  That  night  in  that  great  convention,  without 
any  one  else  knowing  it,  an  ordinary  layman  of  large  business  abil- 
ity was  changed  into  an  extraordinary  leader  for  God  and  the  Lay- 
men's Missionary  Movement  was  born.  Every  man  can  go  home 
from  this  conference,  and  put  the  statement  of  our  policy  and  re- 
sponsibility before  his  church  in  such  a  way  as  to  kindle  their  hearts 
with  the  fire  that  burns  in  his  own  soul.  With  a  vision  of  the  ur- 
gency and  opportunity  and  blessing  which  attend  the  divine  plan, 
our  laymen  will  no  longer  be  satisfied  with  the  littleness  of  their 
former  life. 

THE  LOCAL  CHURCH  AND  THE  PRESS 

Every  local  church,  with  its  associated  organizations,  is  an  im- 
portant factor  in  discovering  proper  leadership.  The  church  must 
create  such  an  atmosphere  as  to  secure  proper  direction  and  growth. 
Men  are  not  full  grown  when  they  begin.  One  of  the  greatest  tasks 
of  the  church  is  to  grow  men,  fine  in  grain,  large  in  faith  and 
strength,  and  skilled  in  action.  I  know  a  young  man,  strong  in  his 
work  for  God,  whose  returning  visits  to  his  home  church  bear  re- 
peated testimony  that  the  vision  of  the  world  and  its  enlarging  work, 
the  growing  responsibility  and  privilege  of  his  own  life,  came  to 
him  through  the  local  church  in  which  he  grew  up. 

The  denominational  literature  may  exert  a  tremendous  influ- 
ence in  this  direction.  The  recognized  denominational  organ,  the 
official  publications  of  every  department  of  the  Church  must  needs 
throb  with  the  kingdom  movements.  With  the  large  end  of  the 
Telescope  toward  the  world,  our  responsibility  will  be  seen  in  its 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  141 

true  perspective,  and  all  its  readers  will  be  gripped  with  the  con- 
stant conviction  that  it  is  a  world-wide  work  to  which  the  increasing 
membership  of  our  great  denomination  is  called  and  commissioned. 

THE  COLLEGES  AND  TRAINED  LAYMEN 

To  our  colleges  and  other  educational  institutions,  we  must 
naturally  look  for  trained  leaders.  It  is  the  trained  men  and  wo- 
men that  must  be  counted  on  to  become  the  leaders  in  their  respec- 
tive churches  and  communities.  These  will  co-operate  with  their 
pastors  in  lifting  the  church  into  the  place  of  her  true  ministry. 
The  Christian  teacher  is  responsible  for  vastly  more  than  the  studies 
in  which  he  instructs  his  pupils.  The  effectiveness  of  a  student's 
life  in  after  years,  depends  much  upon  the  kind  of  touch  that  col- 
lege life  brings  to  his  character  and  inclination  of  service.  Not  only 
is  this  important,  with  reference  to  those  who  are  applicants  for 
holy  orders,  but  it  is  just  as  vital  for  those  who  enter  the  other 
professions  and  business.  Their  conception  of  life  must  be  as  broad 
and  unselfish  as  that  of  the  minister.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  a 
large  per  cent,  of  college  students  relate  themselves  to  life's  tasks 
and  accept  their  ideals  permanently  during  school  days ;  hence  the 
holy  demand  for  the  right  kind  of  touch  in  these  crucial  days  of  a  life. 
That  is  the  time  and  place  above  all  others,  to  impress  young  men 
and  women  with  the  seriousness  of  their  discipleship,  the  impor- 
tance and  responsibility  of  life  as  a  divinely  entrusted  stewardship, 
and  create  the  purpose  to  become  co-workers  with  Christ  for  life 
in  the  enlarging  scope  of  his  kingly  dominion. 

THE  PASTOR  AS  A  DEVELOPER  OF  MEN 

The  place  of  the  pastor  in  this  task  is  unquestioned.  In  this, 
as  in  every  other  relationship  of  the  church's  activity,  he  is  the  piv- 
otal man.  Such  a  standard  of  devotion  and  unselfishness  must  be 
upheld  from  the  pulpit  that  the  membership  of  the  church  will 
readily  find  their  strong  ideals  of  life  centering  in  the  career  of 
Christian  service  as  the  natural  outgrowth  of  their  own  devotion. 
Ruskin  once  said  that  the  true  purpose  of  civilization  is  the  increas- 
ing realization  of  the  value  of  men.  The  same  is  true  in  the  church. 
Every  plan,  whether  of  God  or  of  men,  must  include  within  its 
scope  the  fuller  development  of  man.  God  cares  more  for  a  man 
than  a  plan.     It  is  personalities  that  count  for  most.     The  pastor 


142  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

who  finds  and  properly  adjusts  a  man,  or  more,  and  leads  his  whole 
membership  to  take  an  adequate  share  in  God's  program  for  the 
world,  has  done  infinitely  more  for  the  kingdom  in  its  widest  sweep 
than  merely  reporting  his  annual  budget  in  full  or  building  costly 
churches. 

LAYMAN  AND   THE  RESURRECTION   POWER 

With  our  enlarged  conception  of  the  greatness  and  imperial 
magnitude  of  our  responsibility,  must  also  go  the  glowing  vision  of 
the  radiant  and  all  powerful  Lord.  Without  this,  our  service  will 
degrade  into  a  hopeless  drudgery  and  the  wheels  of  the  church  drag 
heavily  in  our  hands.  Through  His  cross  and  his  risen  life,  he  will 
make  effective  and  thoroughly  Christian  every  fact  and  relation- 
ship of  our  civilization,  and  bring  under  his  kingly  dominion  all  the 
nations  of  earth.  His  resurrection  power  transformed  the  peoples 
of  Europe  from  pagans  to  Christians.  That  same  power  is  conquer- 
ing North  and  South  America  for  Christ.  It  has  moved  across  ten 
thousand  miles  of  Pacific  waters  and  is  knocking  at  the  gates  on 
the  eastern  shores  of  the  last  continent  on  this  planet.  Aye!  The 
gates  are  already  wide  open,  and  the  nations  of  Asia,  two-thirds  of 
the  people  of  this  earth,  are  welcoming  this  power  as  the  sure  answer 
to  their  deepest  cry  and  the  only  guarantee  of  their  true  greatness 
and  permanency. 

"Wider  and  wider  yet 

The  gates  of  the  nations  swing; 
Clearer  and  clearer  still 

The  wonderful  prophecies  ring; 
Go  forth,  ye  hosts  of  the  living  God, 
And  conquer  the  earth  for  your  king!" 


AGENCIES  NEEDED  TO  CALL  OUT  AND  TRAIN 

LEADERS 


THE  COLLEGE  AS  A  FACTOR  NEEDED  TO  CALL  OUT 
AND  TRAIN  LEADERS 

BY  W.  E.  SCHELL 

The  success  and  perpetuity  of  the  church  depend  upon  the  soki- 
tion  of  the  problem  of  leadership.  The  future  of  civilization  is  also 
wrapped  up  in  it,  for  the  church  not  only  is,  and  always  has  been, 
the  main  agency  for  the  promotion  of  morality  and  religion,  but  it 
must  also  be  relied  upon  to  furnish  the  springs  of  Hfe  and  power 
for  all  other  helpful  institutions  and  movements. 

While  the  population  of  our  country  has  increased  about  twenty 
per  cent,  within  twelve  years,  and  the  membership  of  the  Church 
has  increased  at  about  the  same  ratio,  candidates  for  the  ministry 
have  decreased  twenty-five  per  cent.  This  withering  decrease  in 
the  ranks  of  the  ministry  is  found  in  every  Christian  land,  with  the 
possible  exceptions  of  Scotland  and  Scandinavia. 

The  demand  in  quality  is  also  far  from  being  met.  There  is  a 
distinctive  and  emphatic  call  for  men  of  ability  and  gifts  of  leader- 
ship, men  of  strong  physical  constitution,  men  of  mental  power 
and  studious  habits,  men  of  genuine  religious  experience,  who  are 
joined  to  Jesus  Christ  by  a  vital  faith  and  an  undying  consecration ; 
men  of  heroism  and  filled  with  the  passion  of  the  cross.  "The  min- 
istry is  the  only  profession  which  consists  in  being  something,"  is 
the  statement  of  President  Wilson.  Another  has  said,  "If  our  reli- 
gion is  to  be  great  and  do  great  things,  it  must  be  in  the  care  of 
great  souls." 

These  shortages  to  which  I  have  briefly  referred,  are  not 
chargeable  to  God.  "He  is  the  rock ;  his  work  is  perfect,  a  God  of 
truth  and  without  iniquity;  just  and  right  is  he."  As  he  has  put 
the  oak  in  the  acorn,  the  fruit  in  the  blossom,  so  he  has  placed 

143 


144  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

latent  elements  of  leadership  in  men.  The  calling  out  and  develop- 
ment of  these  elements  must  ever  wait  on  human  agencies. 

Among  these  agencies,  indeed  the  most  prominent  and  power- 
ful of  them  all,  is  the  Christian  college.  Its  ponderous  influence  is 
operative  both  in   calling  out  and   in  training   Christian  leaders. 

Things  follow  their  tendencies.  Cause  and  effect  will  never 
be  outlawed.  Good  seed  in  good  soil,  well  tilled  and  accompanied 
with  rain  and  sunshine  and  summer  breeze  in  due  proportion,  in- 
sure a  good  crop.  The  good  seed,  the  good  soil,  the  good  tillage, 
the  favoring  season,  are  all  efficient  causes  operating  toward  the 
desirable  end.  In  proportion  as  the  efficiency  of  one  or  more  of 
the  causes  may  be  reduced,  in  the  same  proportion  are  the  results 
pared  down. 

In  the  truly  Christian  college  there  is  a  genuine  Christian  at- 
mosphere, with  showers  of  grace  which  are  always  the  concomitants 
of  God's  presence  among  his  people.  The  Word  of  God,  which  is 
the  good  seed  of  the  kingdom,  is  magnified.  It  has  a  place  in  the 
curriculum  and  in  the  devotional  Bible-study  classes.  It  is  read  at 
the  opening  of  the  literary  programs  and  has  an  honored  place  in 
the  daily  chapel  service.  Its  truths  are  embodied  in  Zion's  sweet 
songs  and  sung  into  the  hearts  of  the  students.  The  voice  of  prayer 
is  as  common  almost  as  the  voice  of  instruction. 

More  potent  still,  I  doubt  not,  is  the  influence  of  Christian 
teachers.  A  Christian  college  cannot  be  thought  of  apart  from 
Christian  teachers,  men  and  women  who  love  God  and  love  the 
church,  who  are  deeply  impressed  with  the  sacredness  and  suprem- 
acy of  the  Christian  religion,  who  exalt  the  Christian  life  both  in 
profession  and  practice,  and  who  by  precept  and  example  set  the 
ministerial  office  in  its  true  light  as  the  loftiest  work  to  which 
human  thought  and  effort  can  be  given. 

In  nearly  all  cases  the  head  of  the  Christian  college  is  himself 
a  minister,  and  generally  about  half  of  the  professors  are  ministers. 
It  ought  to  be  so,  for  by  their  very  lives  and  example  they  com- 
mend the  ministry  to  those  who  sit  under  their  instruction.  The 
minister  who  feels  the  glory  of  his  calling  and  believes  like  Austin 
Phelps  that  to  be  a  minister  of  the  gospel  is  **a  loftier  honor  than 
to  be  a  prince  of  the  royal  blood,"  such  a  minister  will  influence 
others  to  follow  in  his  footsteps. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  145 

Now,  add  the  influence  of  Christian  students  upon  one  another 
as  they  mingle  in  the  classroom,  the  social  and  literary  circle,  and 
in  the  Christian  organizations  and  associations.  Many  a  young  man 
in  his  early  years  has  experienced  the  wooings  of  the  Spirit  toward 
the  ministry.  But  it  is  kept  a  profound  secret  between  him  and 
his  God.  He  withholds  his  surrender  to  the  impression.  But  the 
years  go  by,  he  enters  the  Christian  college  and  comes  into  close 
association  with  other  young  men  who  have  had  the  same  impres- 
sions and  who  have  answered  the  call.  What  an  immeasurable  in- 
fluence is  thus  thrust  into  his  Ufe  to  lead  him  out  to  a  definite  pur- 
pose to  follow  the  divine  promptings. 

The  opportunities  for  Christian  work  in  the  Christian  college 
constitute  another  strong  trend  toward  leadership.  These  oppor- 
tunities are  many.  The  various  Christian  organizations  are  manned 
by  students.  The  offices  and  committees  engage  many.  They  have 
definite,  Christian  work  to  do.  They  are  blessed  in  doing  it  and 
rewarded  for  it  with  that  indescribable  joy  and  peace  with  which 
God  compensates  unselfish  service.  Having  a  taste  of  it,  they  long 
for  more.  Thus  many  are  inducted  into  active  Christian  work  and 
helped  forward  to  leadership  in  the  ministry  and  in  the  laity. 

By   no   means   the   least   among   the    forces   operating  in   the 
Christian  college  to  call  out  men  for  Christian  leadership,  is  the 
reziral    Christian  colleges  in  all  the  ages  have  been  centers  of  re- 
vival power.     There  are  scores  of  men  before  me  now  who  were 
converted  in  the  Christian  college  revival,  and  scores  of  others  who 
remember  with  deepest  joy  such  seasons  of  grace.     If  I  only  had 
time  to  tell  of  these  gracious  occasions  of  refreshing  from  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord  which  have  been  realized  at  Otterbein  and  Leander 
Clark  and  York  and  Westfield  and  Philomath  and  elsewhere  in  our 
own  schools!     These  revivals  that  have  won  men  and  women  to 
an  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ  have  invariably  called  out  souls  for 
definite.  Christian 'work.     All  down  the  pathway  of  the  ages,  re- 
vivals have  been  attended  by  an  unbroken  line  of  men  entering  the 
ministry  and  the  mission  field.    College  revivals  have  been  especially 
fruitful  in  this  respect.     It  is  estimated  that  students  led  to  Christ 
in  one  revival  at  Yale  College,  in  the  old  days  under  President 
Dwight,  in  subsequent  life  won  over  fifty  thousand  others  to  enter 
the  lists  for  Jesus  Christ.     I  need  only  mention  Williams  College 
and  Mark  Hopkins,  Oberlin  and  Finney,  for  the  mere  mention  of 


146  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

these  names  calls  up  an  array  of  facts  which  constitute  indisputable 
arguments  in  support  of  the  Christian  college  as  a  mighty  factor  in 
calling  out  Christian  leaders. 

Statistics  accentuate  every  word  I  have  spoken  and  under-gird 
every  argument  I  have  produced.  Statistics,  wrought  out  at  the 
expense  of  much  time  and  careful  study  of  the  facts,  show  that 
nineteen  out  of  twenty  of  our  ministers,  and  practically  all  our 
missionaries,  arrive  by  way  of  the  Christian  institution  of  learning. 

Certainly  we  must  hare  leaders  in  the  laity  as  well  as  in  the 
ministry,  and  I  count  it  logical  and  safe  to  conclude  that  the  Chris- 
tian college  which  exercises  such  an  invading  and  far-reaching  in- 
fluence in  calling  out  ministerial  leadership  must  also  be  potent  in 
calling  out  lay  leadership.  The  facts  prove  such  a  conclusion  true. 
Marching  at  the  front  in  the  regiments  of  our  King,  there  are 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  men  and  women  whose  bent 
and  ability  for  leadership  were  discovered  and  called  into  action 
by  the  influences  of  the  Christian  college.  It  would  be  unreasonable 
to  concede  to  such  influences  the  mystic,  transforming  powers  suf- 
ficient to  silence  the  voices  of  the  world,  appeals  of  pleasure  and 
wealth,  and  displace  all  the  ambitions  and  expectations  upon  which 
youth  are  accustomed  to  feed  with  a  decision  once  and  for  all  to 
surrender  the  whole  life  to  the  Christian  ministry,  and  not  concede 
to  the  same  influences  sufficient  power  to  lead  to  a  lesser  consecra- 
tion and  the  surrender  of  at  least  a  part  of  life's  time  and  energy 
to  Christian  work.  Such  argument  would  be  based  on  the  false 
promise  that  the  whole  is  not  as  great  as  one  of  its  parts. 

As  an  agency  for  training  leaders,  there  can  be  no  question 
about  the  Christian  college.  It  is  argued  by  the  primary  meaning 
of  the  word  "college" — a  place  where  a  number  of  individuals  unite 
in  mature,  systematic  study.  It  is  supported  by  the  very  concept 
of  education — the  drawing  out,  the  development  of  the  powers. 
By  means  of  consecutive,  systematic  study  in  a  favorable  environ- 
ment and  guided  by  good  teachers,  the  soul  powers  are  exercised 
and  developed  and  tested  and  disciplined  and  trained  and  drawn 
out  to  full  strength.  Thus  the  soul  is  brought  into  possession  of 
itself,  into  dominion  over  its  own  powers  and  capacities.  By  its 
own  activity  the  slumbering  majesty  within  is  aroused  and  it  as- 
cends to  its  own  royal  throne  of  power.  The  toys  of  childhood  are 
thrown  aside  for  the  tools  of  a  full-grown  man.     The  real  man. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  147 

the  soul,  rises  from  dream  and  play  to  gird  for  the  march  of  earn- 
est, serious  life,  and  pushes  from  height  to  height,  with  each  suc- 
ceeding day  coming  into  more  perfect  harmony  with  the  Divine, 
reflecting  more  fully  his  glory  and  comprehending  better  his  works 
and  his  will,  ever  increasing  in  power  for  passive  enjoyment  and 
aggressive  achievement. 

There  is  only  one  conclusion :  That  the  Christian  college  is 
absolutely  essential  to  the  perpetuity  of  good  government  and  the 
spread  of  the  gospel  throughout  the  world.  Within  its  grasp  are 
the  issues  of  free  institutions  and  the  fate  of  our  holy   religion. 

It  is  our  task  to  make  our  colleges  thoroughly  Christian  and 
keep  them  so,  to  strengthen  the  Bible  courses  and  add  training 
courses  for  Christian  work,  the  business  of  our  King.  It  is  our 
duty  to  send  up  to  God  from  the  secret  place,  from  the  family  altar 
and  from  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  temple,  three  hundred  thousand 
petitions  for  our  colleges  every  day  of  the  world.  Not  without 
much  prayer,  much  more  than  we  have  been  offering,  shall  we  be 
able  to  save  the  age  for  the  Christian  college  and  for  our  God. 

And  it  is  our  duty  and  our  privilege  to  give  our  money  to  these 
institutions.  We  have  scarcely  touched  the  rim  of  our  obligation 
in  this  particular.  Only  a  few  of  us  have  attacked  the  problem. 
When  will  the  whole  army  come  out  of  their  tents  and  take  the 
field  to  give  for  Christian  education,  all  give,  give  every  year 
just  as  we  do  to  other  interests,  and  give  largely  our  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands? 

I  have  heard  it  said  that  our  people  are  a  poor  people.  I  deny 
it.  We  are  not  poor.  But  I  tell  you,  a  lot  of  us  are  going  to  be 
poor  in  the  next  world  if  we  do  not  quit  robbing  God.  We  ought 
to  be  putting  money  into  our  educational  institutions  at  the  rate 
of  two  millions  a  quadrennium.  That  would  only  be  an  average 
of  $1.65  a  year  for  each  member;  less  than  half  a  cent  a  day. 

It  is  a  shame  that  we  United  Brethren  let  Otterbein,  our  oldest 
school,  labor  and  struggle  and  suffer  for  sixty-seven  long  years  be- 
fore we  squeezed  out  money  enough  to  make  her  a  standard  insti- 
tition.  Thank  God,  we  did  not  let  Leander  Clark  struggle  and 
suffer  quite  so  long  in  the  process  of  reaching  standard  grade. 

Shall  we  have  five  standard  institutions  before  the  gavel  falls 
at  the  next  General  Conference?  Why  not?  We  can  do  it,  and 
live  longer,  and  die  happier,  and  go  to  a  larger  heaven. 


148  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

HOW  TRAIN  ALL  THE  STUDENTS  IN  OUR  COLLEGES 

IN  THE  PRACTICAL  WORK  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN 

WHICH  THEY  WILL  BE  EXPECTED  TO 

BE  LEADERS 

BY    M.    R.    DRURY 

This  topic  is  exceedingly  fruitful  in  its  suggestiveness.  It  tells 
us  of  students,  young  men  and  young  women.  It  tells  us  of  col- 
leges, centers  of  potent  influence  in  character  building  and  life  mak- 
ing. It  tells  us  that  these  young  people  are  gathered  into  these 
institutions  for  a  definite  purpose,  training.  It  tells  us  also  that  this 
training  has  a  vital  relation  to  the  work  of  the  church,  an  insti- 
tution with  unequaled  world  relations  and  program.  Furthermore 
the  topic  tells  us  that  this  training  of  young  student  life  is  for  a 
certain,  definite  purpose,  that  of  developing  leaders  possessed  with 
skill  and  vision  in  forwarding  the  kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth. 

It  is  the  church's  special  prerogative  to  look  out  for  young  men 
and  young  women  for  the  ministry  and  other  fomis  of  Christian 
service,  young  people  with  physical  health  and  intellectual  and 
social  gifts,  and  persuade  them  to  enter  its  schools  and  courses  of 
preparation  for  the  largest  possible  service  to  the  world.  It  is  the 
church's  business  to  persuade  promising  young  men  to  consider  the 
ministry  as  an  inviting  life-calling.  They  need  to  be  warned  against 
the  growing  commercialism  in  America.  They  need  to  be  shown 
that  God  has  use  for  all  their  splendid  gifts  in  life-saving  work. 
They  need  the  vision  which  came  so  distinctly  to  Paul  and  to  which 
he  was  not  disobedient.  The  church  has  no  more  urgent  duty,  in 
the  providence  of  God,  and  in  view  of  the  spirit  of  the  age,  than 
to  look  well  to  the  sufficient  supply  and  the  adequate  training  of 
those  who  are  to  be  the  future  leaders  in  the  kingdom's  advance. 
This  it  can  do  in  no  better  way  than  by  insisting  on  a  thorough 
course  of  preparation,  a  preparation  long  and  arduous,  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  ordinary  standards  involves  nineteen  years  of  study 
— eight  years  of  elementary  work,  four  years  of  secondary  work, 
four  years  of  college  work,  and  three  years  of  special  training  for 
the  ministry  in  the  seminary.  This  is  the  way  and  the  only  way, 
under  the  hand  of  God,  for  that  complete  training  so  essential  to 
that  possible  leadership  which  the  ministry  offers. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  149 

How  are  the  colleges  to  furnish  leaders  in  the  practical  work 
of  the  church,  both  in  the  ministry  and  in  the  ranks  of  lay  service  ? 
I  would  answer: 

1.  Our  colleges,  to  train  their  students  for  the  practical  work 
of  the  church  in  which  they  are  expected  to  be  leaders,  must  be 
distinctly  Christian  in  teaching  and  practice.  This  implies  that  in 
these  institutions  Qiristian  ideals  and  principles  shall  dominate  all 
activities  and  relations  on  the  campus,  on  the  athletic  field,  in  the 
class-room,  in  the  chapel  exercises,  and  that  everywhere  there  shall 
be  a  genuine  religious  attitude  toward  life.  Here  the  primary  ques- 
tions are  those  which  center  about  God,  prayer,  personal  responsi- 
bility, Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Bible.  These  things  are  elemental  and 
in  the  atmosphere  of  their  exaltation  students  find  their  life  train- 
ing and  proper  growth  so  essential  to  sterling  character  and  worth. 
There  can  be  no  better  preparation  for  the  practical  work  of  the 
church  than  a  liberal  education  in  such  institutions.  Without  an 
education  of  this  type  and  under  such  influences,  training  must  lack 
the  highest  aim  and  the  master  motive. 

As  to  the  method  of  teaching  morals  and  religion  in  order  to 
secure  the  best  training  for  life  the  instinctive  basis  of  moral 
capabilities  and  ideas  must  not  be  overlooked.  There  are  funda- 
mental instincts  in  the  teaching  of  morals  that  must  be  reckoned 
with.  Having  this  instinctive  basis  to  begin  with  the  teaching  in 
our  colleges  should  be  with  reference  to  the  development  of  capa- 
bilities bestowed  at  birth.  For,  as  Emerson  has  said,  "The  date 
of  gifts  is  closed  at  birth."  Education  bestows  no  new  gifts.  It 
simply  develops  those  only  that  are  found  in  innate  capacity.  The 
vital  problems  of  this  development  are  inseparably  related  to  the 
will.  All  other  training  is  of  little  value  if  will  training  is  neg- 
lected. Our  young  people  must  be  so  taught  and  trained  that  they 
shall  not  only  be  able  to  see  the  right,  but  that  they  will  choose  it 
and  love  it,  not  only  while  in  school,  but  after  they  leave  it.  In 
this  way  it  will  be  a  principle  and  habit  of  life  with  the  student  to 
respect  and  obey  the  law  and  to  endeavor  to  have  others  do  like- 
wise. Without  willing  obedience  to  law,  to  rightful  authority, 
education  cannot  be  other  than  a  farce  and  a  failure.  This  is  the 
education  that  results  in  the  freedom  of  the  human  mind  which  is 
the  necessary  precursor  of  all  true  liberty  and  progress.  Training 
of  this  sort  is  vital  to  practical  results  in  the  work  of  the  church. 


150  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

And  it  is  this  training  that  brings  all  departments  of  human  activ- 
ity, business,  politics,  international  relations,  social  and  industrial 
welfare,  under  the  Christian  standard  of  conduct. 

2.  The  value  of  this  training  in  our  college  is  largely  due  to 
its  continuity,  to  the  continued  emphasis  which  is  put  upon  it 
through  four  or  more  years  of  study  under  Christian  teachers  and 
in  an  atmosphere  conducive  to  the  development  of  religious  convic- 
tion and  the  spirit  of  service  to  fellow-men.  Then,  vitally  con- 
nected with  this  training  that  is  continuous  and  not  spasmodic,  is 
tlie  influence  and  work  of  the  church  where  the  college  is  located. 
Much  will  depend  on  the  character  and  ministry  of  the  college  pas- 
tor. He  should  be  a  prophet  with  clearness  of  vision  and  with  dis- 
criminating wisdom  and  ability.  He  should  be  a  preacher  with  a 
profound  insight  into  spiritual  truth  and  a  teacher  of  sound  judg- 
ment and  poise.  While  preaching  the  great  facts  of  Christianity 
which  never  change,  his  interpretations  of  these  facts  must  be  de- 
termined by  the  intelligence  of  the  age.  So  he  must  be  able  to  give 
the  new  interpretations  of  the  unchanging  fact  that  Christ  died  for 
our  sins,  suited  to  the  experiences  and  life  of  to-day.  He  must 
know  how  to  leave  behind  the  theories  that  have  been  outgrown, 
and  adapt  the  gospel  message  to  the  larger  and  grander  times  of  the 
present.  What  a  throne  of  opportunity  and  power  the  wakeful 
pastor  of  a  college  community  occupies ! 

The  Bishops,  superintendents,  and  other  church  leaders  should 
recognise  the  impotence  of  these  student  centers  and  see  to  it  that 
they  are  provided  with  a  preaching  and  pastoral  service  adequate 
and  trustworthy.  To  furnish  this  is  the  church's  supreme  obli- 
gation and  opportunity  if  it  would  fulfill  its  high  mission  as  a  spir- 
itual agency  for  the  salvation  of  men.  We  must  not  forget  that 
our  young  men  and  young  women  will  not  get  the  most  out  of 
Christian  instruction  and  a  wholesome  and  vigorous  moral  atmos- 
phere within  the  college  apart  from  definite  church  relations  and 
personal  religious  activities.  As  Dr.  John  R.  Mott,  world  states- 
man and  leader  among  college  men,  says,  "The  young  man  needs 
the  church,  not  only  for  what  it  brings  to  him  in  facilitating  his 
discovery  of  God  and  holding  true  communion  with  him,  but  also 
in  order  to  promote  symmetrical  growth  and  faith  and  character. 
.     .    .    In  the  church  we  best  find  our  conscience ;  we  best  quicken 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  151 

it;  we  keep  it  most  sensitive;  we  best  educate  it;  and  if  a  man 
lose  his  conscience,  he  loses  his  best  friend." 

Speaking  out  of  very  wide  opportunities  of  observation  in  visit- 
ing colleges  and  universities  in  many  lands,  Mr.  Mott  says  that  in 
some  of  the  most  favored  universities,  Christian  students  are  being 
starved;  even  the  students  that  may  attend  compulsory  chapel  ex- 
ercises; even  those  who  hear  great  sermons  by  leading  clergymen 
of  the  foremost  churches  who  come  to  these  institutions  with  burn- 
ing messages.  Why  is  this?  Because  these  sermons,  great  and 
strong  as  they  are,  detached  from  each  other,  are  lacking  the  con- 
tinuity and  the  progression  that  one  finds  in  the  church  of  his  own 
parish,  and,  says  Mr.  Mott,  referring  to  his  own  personal  experi- 
ence, "I  shall  never  cease  to  be  grateful  that  in  my  university  days 
I  was  enjoined,  not  only  to  attend  a  series  of  wonderful  sermons, 
which  I  shall  not  forget  to  my  dying  day,  .  .  .  that  I  should 
attach  myself  to  the  particular  parish  of  my  communion  in  that 
community,  and  regularly  attend  its  services.  Young  men  are  being 
kept  from  symmetrical,  progressive  growth,  the  result  of  not  having 
known  the  ministries  of  the  church."  This  is  true  specially  in  in- 
stitutions without  church  control  or  positive  religious  teaching  and 
influences. 

To  be  trained  in  our  colleges  for  the  highest  forms  of  Christian 
service  does  not  necessarily  mean  training  in  all  the  numerous  vari- 
eties and  details  of  Christian  activity.  It  means,  however,  to  learn 
to  think  with  discriminating  wisdom,  to  act  in  terms  of  will,  and 
to  apply  the  principles  of  righteousness  with  purpose  and  courage 
to  every-day  life.  Training  that  enables  one  to  do  these  things, 
while  broad  and  general,  is  nevertheless  exceedingly  practical,  be- 
cause it  furnishes  the  power  for  service  that  is  easily  adaptable  to 
local  conditions  and  particular  needs.  The  training  that  is  general, 
that  insures  a  broad  foundation,  will  enable  one  to  build  a  super- 
structure of  great  beauty  and  strength  involving  every  variety  of 
detail  and  particularity.  With  this  general  preparation,  vital  and 
effective,  there  will  certainly  come  to  the  disposition  and  ability  for 
specific  church  activity.  That  is  to  say,  if  the  students  in  our  col- 
leges are  given  the  proper  vision,  direction,  and  purpose  for  their 
life  callings  by  the  church  and  in  the  church,  so  that  they  prize  its 
fellowships  and  co-operation  in  good  works,  they  will  surely  be 
active  and  helpful  in  promoting  the  practical  work  of  the  church. 


152  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

The  definite  training  of  its  members  in  character  equipment  and 
vision  is  a  sure  pledge  of  the  church's  activity  and  efficiency.  So 
that  I  conclude  that  what  is  wanted  for  our  college  students  is  not 
so  much  training  in  the  practical  work  of  the  church  as  it  is  a 
training  for  the  practical  work  of  the  church  whenever  and  wher- 
ever they  may  have  the  opportunity  to  engage  in  it.  It  is  the  train- 
ing which  imparts  the  ability  to  minister  in  the  spirit  of  the  Master 
to  the  needs  of  humanity  as  conditions  and  circumstances  permit. 
School  training  is  not  church  training  specifically,  but  it  is  training 
for  future  church  activities. 

The  church  that  has  the  right  conception  of  its  mission  in  this 
generation  will  be  diligent  and  earnest  in  training  its  young  people, 
who  are  to  be  its  future  members  and  leaders,  to  do  its  work  ef- 
fectively and  in  devout  loyalty  to  their  Master,  Jesus  Christ. 


BONEBRAKE  SEMINARY  A  NECESSARY  AGENCY  FOR 
CALLING  OUT  AND  TRAINING  LEADERS 

BY   J.    P.    LANDIS 

A  moment  or  two  upon  the  scope  and  character  and  significance 
of  our  supreme  calling  of  the  ministry. 

The  greatest  character  that  this  world  has  ever  seen,  who  has 
trod  this  round  globe  of  ours,  was  Jesus  Christ,  for  he  was  the  Son 
of  man,  he  was  the  Son  of  God.  The  scroll  of  honor  is  a  long 
one.  God  has  been  willing  to  grant  us  many  great  men,  men  strong 
of  mind,  strong  of  heart,  strong  of  purpose,  strong  of  will,  and  they 
have  wrought  mightily  for  the  human  race,  and  we  do  not  willingly 
let  their  names  die.  We  cherish  their  memory  and  the  memory  of 
their  deeds.  But  there  towers  above  all  this  long  scroll  a  name 
that  is  supreme,  which  rises  as  far  above  them  as  the  snow-capped 
mountains  rise  above  the  level  of  the  plain ;  or  as  the  morning  sun 
rising  from  behind  the  eastern  horizon  puts  out  of  sight  the  won- 
drous stars  that  deck  the  night,  so  this  name  puts  into  the  back- 
ground— puts  out  of  sight  all  that  great  array  of  names  that  have 
blessed  our  race.  It  is,  of  course,  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  man,  the  Son  of  God. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  153 

THE   GREATEST   INSTITUTION    ON    EARTH 

The  greatest  institution,  the  greatest  order  of  which  we  can 
think,  is  the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  it 
originated  in  heaven.  It  originated  in  the  thought  and  heart  of  God, 
and  the  same  principles  that  govern  there  are  to  govern  here. 
God  has  but  one  kingdom.  King  George  V.  may  have  his  capital 
in  England,  in  London;  his  palace  is  there;  his  scepter  is  there; 
but  he  rules  just  as  surely  in  AustraHa  and  in  parts  of  Africa 
and  portions  of  Asia  and  in  some  islands  of  the  sea  as  he  does  in 
England.  The  capital  of  God  may  be  beyond  the  stars,  beyond  the 
skies ;  the  crown  may  be  there ;  the  seat  of  Jesus  may  be  there,  but 
he  is  just  as  truly  here  in  earth;  his  kingdom  is  just  as  surely 
here  as  there.  He  left  heaven  to  begin  his  kingdom,  and  then  he 
committed  the  work  to  us  and  commissioned  us  with  that  compre- 
hensive commission,  ''Disciple  all  the  nations  of  the  earth;  baptize 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit." 

THE    GREATEST   BOOK    IN   THE    WORLD 

The  greatest  book  on  the  face  of  the  earth  is  the  Bible.  It 
brings  before  us  the  greatest  themes,  and  the  most  comprehensive, 
that  can  enter  the  human  mind.  It  talks  to  us  of  God.  The  most 
important  information  that  we  can  have  is  not  a  knowledge  of  geom- 
etry, nor  a  knowledge  of  grammar,  it  is  not  a  knowledge  of  arith- 
metic or  of  science  or  philosophy — it  is  the  knowledge  of  God.  I 
say  this  not  for  buncombe;  it  is  true.  It  is  a  knowledge  of  God, 
not  about  God,  but  a  knowledge  of  God  himself.  And  God  is  re- 
vealed to  us  in  the  Bible  as  he  isn't  anywhere  else,  and  the  qualities 
of  God,  the  attributes  of  God,  such  as  the  love  of  God,  the  benev- 
olence of  God — all  these  are  brought  before  us  in  a  most  affecting 
and  effective  way  through  the  Word  of  God.  Christ  being  the 
greatest  character  that  ever  trod  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  having 
instituted  the  greatest  order  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  the  most 
powerful,  the  most  influential,  he  has  also  put  into  our  hands  as 
ministers  of  the  gospel  this  great  textbook  with  these  greatest  of 
all  themes,  to  teach  them  to  the  people  of  God — not  simply  to  tell 
them  about  God,  but  to  bring  the  truth  home  to  their  intelligence, 
home  to  their  hearts,  home  to  their  wills,  and  by  force  of  the  truth 
itself,  backed  up  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  compel  men  to  a  knowledge 
and  an  obedience  of  the  truth  in  Jesus  Christ. 


154  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

THE   GREATEST    MISSION   ON    EARTH 

That  is  the  vision  of  ministers  in  part;  the  greatest  vision  of 
the  greatest  work  that  could  be  given  to  man.  It  is  great  to  dis- 
cover a  continent.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  invent  a  locomotive.  It  is 
a  great  thing  to  write  poetry.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  an  orator 
and  sway  the  multitudes.  It  is  a  greater  thing  to  be  a  minister  of 
the  gospel.  It  is  the  greatest  work,  the  mightiest  work,  the  sweetest 
work,  the  divinest  work,  the  most  heavenly  work  that  God  Almighty 
himself  could  give  men  to  do.  We  ought  to  appreciate  that,  men; 
not  to  make  us  haughty  and  domineering,  but  to  bring  us  upon  our 
knees  and  to  be  grateful,  and  not  to  go  back  on  it  by  anything  we 
do,  and  not  to  bring  it  into  disrepute,  and  not  to  weaken  its  power 
in  any  way. 

THE   NECESSARY  TRAINING   FOR   THE   MINISTRY 

Now,  I  believe  with  those  who  preceded  me,  that  nobody  can 
do  what  he  ought  to  do,  the  work  to  wliich  he  is  called,  effectively, 
without  getting  ready  for  it.  He  should  make  preparation.  He 
must  prepare  and  train  for  it,  and  know  the  broad  plan  and  purpose 
of  God.  This  specific  institution  which  I  am  simply  to  mention  to 
you  is  to  help  get  men  ready  for  this  great  vision  and  work.  Not 
everybody  goes  to  college  and  not  everybody  goes  to  the  theological 
seminary,  but  we  all  must  make  preparation.  We  all  must  study. 
We  all  must  consecrate  ourselves.  We  all  must  have  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Word.  We  all  must  have  the  power  of  God  in  us,  and 
whether  we  get  to  college  or  the  seminary  or  not,  we  must  make 
this  preparation.  You  believe  it,  the  church  believes  it.  The  United 
Brethren  Church  has  provided  the  means  for  preparing  for  it.  All 
the  churches  do  that.  The  Catholic  Church  has  done  it ;  the  Meth- 
odist, the  Presbyterian,  the  Congregationalist,  the  Baptist,  and  the 
rest,  have  all  made  provisions  of  this  sort.  And  moreover,  the 
United  Brethren  years  ago  established  a  quarterly  conference  read- 
ing study  course,  first  a  two-years'  study  course,  and  then  a  three- 
years'  study  course,  and  now  we  have  a  four-years'  study  course. 
They  founded  colleges  to  help  men  to  get  ready  for  the  ministry. 
Then  it  entered  into  the  hearts  of  certain  men  to  build  a  seminary, 
and  over  there  it  is.  But  we  cannot  do  all  this  work,  because  all 
the  Church  must  help ;  men  have  to  do  it  on  their  knees.  But  this 
institution,  which  in  the  Providence  of  God  has  been  founded,  can 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  155 

give  great  assistance,  great  help  in  getting  the  men  who  will  come 
to  us  ready  for  this  purpose.  Send  to  us  men  with  heads,  men  who 
have  brains.  Send  to  us  men  who  have  hearts,  men  who  mean  to 
do  something,  men  who  aspire  to  accomplish  noble  things,  and 
then,  by  the  grace  of  God,  we  may  do  something  for  them.  But 
don't  send  us  men  who  have  no  brains ;  don't  send  us  men  who  have 
no  hearts,  or  men  who  are  simply  ambitious.  Don't  send  us  men 
who  are  too  lazy  to  work,  but  send  us  men  from  whose  fingertips 
there  flashes  off  energy,  and  if  we  can't  do  anything  for  them  we 
will  shut  up  shop. 

Now,  look  here,  brethren,  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  woul<l 
make  the  school  everything — you  may  not  believe  it — but  I  think  I 
have  too  much  sense  to  believe  that  mere  learning,  mere  education, 
is  the  thing;  I  don't  and  I  never  did,  and  the  longer  I  Hve,  the  more 
I  see  that  I  was  right  originally  and  am  still  right  on  that  subject. 
Learning  is  good.  Culture  is  good.  Let  us  have  it,  and  all  we  can 
have  of  it,  for  I  never  have  known  a  man  yet  in  the  gospel  ministry 
whom  I  thought  had  too  much  culture,  or  whom  I  thought  had  too 
much  brains,  too  much  religion,  too  much  of  the  love  of  God — never 
saw  one  yet,  I  say,  let's  have  men  with  brains  and  with  knowledge 
and  culture  and  learning,  if  you  please,  ajid  that  consecrated  to  God, 
fired  up  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  then  you  will  have  a  steam  engine 
which  can  do  something. 

I  thank  God  for  this  convention.  Yesterday  when  Mr.  Trum- 
bull was  talking,  he  struck  me  into  the  dust,  I  was  on  my  face, 
and  I  said,  "Good  Lord,  if  we  are  to  be  trainers  of  leaders  in  reli- 
gion, what  kind  of  men  ought  we  to  be?"  I  said  at  the  breakfast 
table,  "Oh,  I  wish  I  could  be  a  Giristian  like  that."  My  wife  said, 
"We  can  be."  "Well,"  I  said,  "we  need  somebody  to  lead  us."  We 
must  have  somebody  to  show  us  how,  and  we,  at  the  Seminary,  are 
supposed  to  be  able  to  show  the  students  how.  Brethren,  I  am  just 
as  well  convinced  as  I  am  that  two  and  two  make  four,  that  the 
Seminary  cannot  do  the  work  it  ought  to  do  for  the  church  of 
God  unless  the  faculty  there  and  the  students  are  paying  special 
attention  to  this  great  spiritual  task  that  is  lying  before  us.  I  wish 
you  would  pray  for  us,  that  we  may  be  men  of  God,  that  we  may 
have  that  high  experience.  We  are  to  teach  salvation — the  salva- 
tion that  saves  from  the  penalty  of  sin  and  from  the  disgraces  of 
sin;  a  salvation  that  will  save  men  from  frittering  away  their  lives 


156  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

in  mere  frivolity ;  that  will  save  men  from  being  wrecked  upon  the 
breakers  of  passion.  Salvation  that  doesn't  do  that  doesn't  amount 
to  much.     Pray  for  us  that  we  may  teach  this  salvation. 


THE  SEMINARY  OUR  WEST  POINT 

BY  J.  E.  FOUT 

In  considering  the  agencies  which  are  necessary  to  call  out  and 
train  the  leaders  to  accomplish  our  world  task,  it  is  well  for  us  to 
hold  in  mind  the  fact  so  ably  presented  to  us  yesterday,  namely, 
that  the  battlefield  is  the  local  church.  From  the  local  church  must 
come  both  the  men  and  the  means  for  the  achievement  of  our  ends. 
Let  us  remember  also  that  other  fact  so  well  presented,  namely,  that 
the  pastor  is  the  key  to  the  local  situation.  Pie  not  only  holds  the 
key,  but  he  is  the  key.  Whether  it  relates  to  the  development  of  the 
church  in  her  spiritual  life  or  in  her  benevolences,  remember,  no 
church  ever  rises  higher  than  her  ministry.  Important,  then,  is  the 
training  of  this  key  man.  If  he  fails,  the  church  fails;  if  he  suc- 
ceeds, the  church  succeeds. 

THE  TRAINING  NEEDED 

What  training  should  be  given  to  a  man  who  is  to  assume  such 
responsibility?     In  my  thought,  three  things  are  necessary: 

First,  and  most  important  from  every  standpoint,  is  the  spirit- 
ual life  and  consecration  of  this  man  himself.  No  matter  what  train- 
ing may  be  given  a  man,  without  this  divine  touch  he  will  be  a 
failure.  But,  assuming  this  point,  the  second  is  a  broad  scholastic 
or  collegiate  training  for  Christian  service.  Third,  a  thorough  train- 
ing in  theology  and  ecclesiastical  diplomacy. 

There  was  a  time  when  a  boy  could  go  from  the  plow  into  the 
pulpit,  but  that  day  is  forever  passed,  because  of  the  education  in 
our  pews  to-day.  Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  placed  upon  the 
value  and  importance  of  collegiate  training  as  a  foundation  for  a 
theological  course,  but  hear  me  when  I  say  that  a  collegiate  train- 
ing of  itself  is  not  sufficient.  The  ideal  is  a  college  and  a  seminary 
training.  I  am  glad  we  are  emphasizing  as  never  before  the  college 
course  as  the  proper  foundation  and  essential  prerequisite  to  a  theo- 
logical training,  but  we  may  as  well  expect  the  college  man  to  suc- 
ceed in  the  practice  of  law  or  medicine  as  to  succeed  in  the  min- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  1S7 

istry  without  that  higher  technical  training  which  the  seminary 
gives.  Of  course,  he  can  read  law  and  study  medicine  in  his  own 
home  after  he  leaves  college,  but  the  state  declares  that  he  shall  not 
practice  either  until  he  has  successfully  completed  the  course  of 
study  in  some  accredited  school  of  law  or  medicine.  And  shall 
the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  require  less  preparation  and  training 
for  the  man  who  is  to  be  the  leader  of  leaders— the  minister  and 
pastor  in  the  aggressive  work  of  the  kingdom? 

The  great  leaders  of  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  in  all  ages,  with 
few  exceptions,  have  been  trained  for  their  work  in  their  theological 
schools.  In  every  age,  from  the  days  of  the  apostles  until  now,  when 
God  has  demanded  an  advance  of  his  forces,  he  has  always  depended 
upon  his  trained  leaders,  the  ministry,  for  the  work.  Call  the  roll 
of  all  the  great  missionaries  and  it  would  be  the  exception  to  men- 
tion a  single  one  who  has  not,  or  did  not  have,  in  addition  to  his  col- 
legiate training,  a  most  thorough  theological  preparation. 

So,  as  we  face  the  tasks  before  us,  let  us  emphasize  with  a  new 
emphasis  the  importance  of  the  Seminary  as  our  West  Point  for 
technical  training  in  ecclesiastical  leadership  and  diplomacy. 

OUR  WEST  POINT 

With  over  thirty  thousand  vacant  pulpits  in  America  alone, 
and  with  the  call  for  an  increasingly  large  force  of  workers  abroad, 
is  it  not  time  that  the  Qiurch  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ, 
with  other  great  Christian  churches,  along  with  our  campaign  for 
funds,  to  call  for  a  thousand  young  men  and  women,  who  shall  be 
thoroughly  trained  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  task  before 
us?  We  are  in  danger  of  seeing  only  the  mighty  task  before  us, 
and  of  forgetting  that  if  the  task  of  the  world's  evangelization  is  to 
be  accomplished,  we  must  have  a  trained  leadership  to  do  it. 

We  must  also  remember  that  Bonebrake  Seminary  is  our  train- 
ing school  in  which  the  leaders  of  the  leaders  are  given  their  special 
training.  The  colleges,  therefore,  must  furnish  this  institution 
young  men  with  a  broad  college  training  in  order  that  our  West 
Point  may  give  them  their  technical  training.  In  order  to  accom- 
plish this  there  must  be — 

First,  A  proper  course  of  study— a  course  which  will  actually 
train  men  for  leadership  in  service  and  ecclesiastical  diplomacy. 


158  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

Second,  There  must  be  an  adequate  equipment,  so  complete  that 
nothing  will  be  withheld  from  those  who  take  her  courses. 

When  I  think  of  the  millions  this  nation  is  spending  in  order 
to  develop  and  train  great  leaders  for  her  military  and  naval  oper- 
ations, and  then  consider  how  little  concern  we  give  ourselves  about 
the  leadership  which  has  to  do  with  the  extension  of  God's  kingdom, 
my  very  heart  is  stirred,  and  I  pray  God  to  forgive  us.  Why  does  the 
nation  spend  these  millions  upon  her  schools  ?  Simply  that  she  may 
have  a  Grant,  or  a  Schley,  or  a  Sampson,  or  a  Dewey  in  the  hour 
of  her  need,  and  in  order  that  they  may  be  the  leaders  of  the  forces 
who  call  out  and  train  the  military  forces  of  the  nation. 

This  school,  Bonebrake  Theological  Seminary,  is  our  only  theo- 
logical school — our  West  Point — where  we  must  train  experts  in 
pastoral  work  and  ministerial  efficiency.  This  school  is  our  only 
hope.  W^ithout  it  we  cannot  hope.  As  a  denomination,  to  secure 
that  leadership  by  which  our  Church  will  do  her  part  in  the  achieve- 
ment of  our  world's  task.  Already  she  has  sent  out  her  hundreds, 
but  the  world  is  calling  for  her  thousands. 

In  undertaking  our  world  task,  let  us  with  united  prayer  and 
effort  bring  to  this  institution  the  choicest  young  men  upon  whom 
God  has  laid  his  hand  for  the  holy  offices  of  the  Christian  ministry, 
and  give  them  that  training  which  will  make  them  able  to  lead  the 
forces  of  our  beloved  Zion  to  the  achievement  of  our  part  of  the 
world's  evangelization. 


HOW  SECURE  AN  ADEQUATE  FORCE  OF  MEN  FOR  THE 
MINISTRY  AND  MISSIONARY  WORK? 

BY  G.  D.   GOSSARD 

The  call  to  the  ministry  is  infinitely  above  riches,  worldly 
greatness,  popularity,  adventure,  or  patriotism,  laudable  as  these 
may  be.  Why  are  not  more  men  forthcoming  for  the  ministry  ?  In 
fifty-eight  leading  theological  schools  in  the  United  States  the  num- 
ber of  students  decreased  from  4,004  to  3,304  from  1894-95  to  1906, 
a  loss  of  eighteen  per  cent.,  though  at  the  same  time  the  church 
membership  increased  twenty-five  per  cent,  and  the  population  of 
the  country  increased  twenty  per  cent.  German  universities  show  a 
decrease  in   the   number  of  theolog^ical   students   from   1890-91   to 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  159 

1906-07  from  4,190  to  2,208,  while  law  and  philosophical  students 
greatly  increased.  This  condition  obtains  practically  all  over  the 
world.  Why  this  lack  of  men?  What  hinders  their  accepting  this 
high  calling?  I  can  touch  only  a  few  reasons.  Other  kinds  of  reli- 
gious work,  such  as  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  philanthropic  work,  social  settle- 
ment, boys'  clubs,  and  Sunday-school  work,  teaching,  and  similar 
employment  become  substitutes  for  the  ministry  to  some. 

THE  PULL  OF  THE  COMMERCIAL  SPIRIT 

A  secular  and  commercial  spirit,  prevalent  everywhere,  mightily 
affects  young  men  and  has  a  strong  "pull"  which  they  cannot  re- 
sist. Love  of  money,  the  love  of  money-making,  a  desire  for  the 
things  money  can  buy,  and  which  they  cannot  afford  if  in  the  min- 
istry, turn  many  to  other  pursuits.  A  false  standard  of  real  values 
is  held  by  many  young  men,  who  look  upon  the  accumulation  of 
wealth  as  the  acme  of  success,  or  to  political  honor  and  fame,  and 
worldly  pleasures  as  more  desirable  than  preaching  the  gospel  to 
'*'poor,  lost  sinners"  at  small  pay. 

A  lack  of  men  in  proportion  to  women  and  children  in  the 
church  causes  many  young  men  with  good,  rich  blood  in  their  veins 
to  say,  "I'll  not  spend  my  talent  with  women  and  pink  teas,  and  be 
dubbed  a  'ladies'  man.'  " 

The  contempt  in  which  many  ministers  are  held,  by  many  in 
church  and  out  of  it,  who  say  that  ministers  could  not  succeed  at 
anything  else,  or  that  the  ministry  is  an  easy  job,  or  a  lazy  man's 
job,  or  that  they  have  no  business  sense  and  are  not  practical,  or 
that  they  are  goody-goody  fellows  and  weaklings,  strikes  a  wrong 
chord  in  the  heart  of  vast  numbers  of  young  men  who  say,  "I  want 
to  make  good,  I  want  to  do  things,  therefore,  I'll  not  go  into  the 
ministry;  I'll  enter  some  other  profession  or  business  where  I  shall 
have  opportunity  to  use  all  my  powers." 

Lack  of  proper  financial  support  is  a  great  barrier.  Many 
preachers  are  never  out  of  debt.  Young  men  know  this.  They 
know  the  value  of  money,  and  what  it  can  do,  and  also  what  the 
lack  of  it  means.  A  young  man  wants  his  wife — the  sweetest  girl 
in  the  world — to  live  as  good  as  his  chum's  wife,  not  extravagantly, 
but  as  good.  He  wants  his  family  to  dress  just  as  well,  his  children 
to  go  to  school  and  college  like  the  children  of  other  men  who  have 
no  more  brains  than  he  has,  and  in  many  instances  not  as  much.     He 


160  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

knows,  too,  that  "you  can't  keep  an  automobile  family  on  a  wheel- 
barrow salary,"  and  therefore  he  chooses  another  profession, 

A  bulletin  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  issued  May,  1903,  gives 
annual  earnings  of  certain  classes  of  laborers  in  Pennsylvania  as 
follows:  Stable  men,  $689.52;  pump  men,  $685.72;  carpenters, 
$603.90,  and  blacksmiths,  $557.43.  Many  ministers  receive  less. 
What  a  commentary  on  the  church ! 

HOW    SHALL   WE   WIN    MEN   FOR   THE    MINISTRY? 

Now,  how  shall  we  win  men  for  the  ministry  and  missionary 
work  ?  Take  the  Lord's  plan,  prayer.  'Tray  ye  therefore  the  Lord 
of  the  harvest,  that  he  send  forth  labourers  into  his  harvest,"  and 
then  help  the  Lord  answer  our  prayers  by  removing  all  hindrances 
in  the  way,  and  by  doing  everything  possible  and  honorable  to  win 
men. 

The  great  winning  forces  are  prayer,  the  home,  the  church,  the 
college,  and  the  minister.  Prayer  is  Christ's  plan,  and  stands  first. 
We  may  discuss  learnedly  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  the  power  of  prayer, 
the  biblical  theory  of  prayer,  and  so  forth,  but  if  we  want  results  we 
must  pray,  pray,  pray  until  God  hears  and  answers.  All  other 
plans  are  secondary.     Prayer  stands  first,  last,  and  all  the  time. 

The  family  influence  cannot  be  measured.  The  prayer-life,  the 
family  altar,  the  high  ideals,  the  Christ-like  spirit,  the  love  and  rev- 
erence for  the  church  and  holy  things,  looking  upon  the  minister  as 
a  "man  of  God,"  "talking  up"  the  minister  and  never  belittling  him, 
taking  a  part  in  all  the  services  of  the  Church,  thanking  God  for  the 
privilege  of  being  a  co-worker  with  him,  praying  that  God  may  call 
the  sons  and  daughters  into  the  ministry  and  missionary  work,  talk- 
ing to  the  children  about  it,  will  certainly  yield  results.  Moses  and 
Samuel  and  Paul  and  Timothy  and  John  the  Baptist  did  not  happen 
to  be  the  kind  of  men  they  were.  The  family  life  did  it.  William 
Wilberforce  gave  three  sons  to  the  ministry.  Bishop  Westcott  gave 
four  sons  as  missionaries  to  India.  Doctor  Soudder  gave  eight 
sons  as  missionaries.  Why  all  this?  The  home  influence  was  the 
powerful  factor  and  it  won.  These  and  other  facts  disprove  that 
old,  threadbare  lie  that  preachers'  sons  are  the  worst  in  the  world. 

More  than  half  of  the  ministers  choose  their  work  because  of 
home  influences,  and  the  great  majority  decide  before  they  are 
eighteen.     The  home  influence  serves  as  an  anchor  in  after  years. 


Oiir  Men  and  Their  Task  161 

When  doubts  and  fears  come,  the  old  home  religion,  father's  God, 
and  mother's  Bible  are  found  to  be  good  enough  in  the  midst  of 
skepticism  and  doubt. 

The  college  has  a  powerful  influence  to  help  or  hinder  the  call. 
A  Christian  atmosphere  is  needed;  it  will  influence.  Nearly  all 
ministers  come  from  the  denominational  colleges.  Very  few  come 
from  State  universities  and  undenominational  schools.  Therefore 
the  college  should  be  made  the  best  possible.  It  should  have  a  strong 
faculty,  equal  if  possible  to  the  State  universities;  its  courses  of 
study  should  be  up-to-date  and  the  equal  of  any. 

Our  preachers  come  from  United  Brethren  colleges ;  when  they 
go  elsewhere  to  college  they  do  not  come  back.  What  would  be  the 
result  if  our  colleges  were  closed  for  lack  of  funds  or  for  some  other 
reason  ?  Soon  we  would  have  no  ministers  nor  missionaries.  Then 
we  would  have  a  big  funeral  and  bury  the  Church. 

The  colleges  should  be  liberally  supported.  Our  schools  are  all 
crying  loudly  for  funds.  If  the  Church  is  wise,  she  will  hear.  Here 
is  an  opportunity  for  business  men,  big  business  men,  and  the  whole 
Church,  to  do  the  heroic  in  helping  to  endow  our  colleges.  If  the 
large  universities  need  millions  every  year,  do  not  the  denomina- 
tional colleges  have  a  similar  need,  especially  since  they  must  com- 
pete with  the  larger  institutions  for  students  and  in  the  character 
of  work  done  ?  We  assess  our  people  for  home  missions,  for  foreign 
missions,  and  for  church  erection;  but  when  we  talk  of  adequate 
financial  support  for  college  and  education,  which  is  absolutely 
basic  for  all  our  church  work,  then  we  look  wise  and  holy  and  ex- 
pect miracles  to  be  performed  in  money  getting.  Brethren,  we  must 
support  our  colleges  with  adequate  endow^ment  funds.  We  must 
endow  or  die. 

Work  done  by  students  of  a  practical,  Christian  nature  in  the 
slums  of  cities,  social  work,  philanthropic  work  of  any  kind,  real 
work  done  in  the  various  church  organizations  open  the  way  for  the 
call  to  the  ministry.  Revivals  of  religion  in  college  and  elsewhere 
tend  to  tie  young  men  to  a  great  constructive  cause,  and  bring  them 
to  the  ministry.  Doubts  and  difliculties  fade  away  before  a  great 
revival. 

The  ministers,  and  especially  the  college  pastors,  are  a  great 
force  in  winning  men  to  the  ministry.  The  young  preacher  is  a 
recruit ;  the  pastor  should  be  a  recruiter,  and  his  church  a  recruiting 


162  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

station.  The  pastor's  sermons  on  the  call  to  the  ministry,  his  per- 
sonal interviews,  his  influence  in  the  home,  his  letters  to  young  men 
at  school,  praying  himself  and  urging  his  church  to  pray  that  young 
men  be  called,  urging  the  teachers  in  the  Sunday  school  and  other 
organizations  to  present  the  claims  of  the  ministry,  are  all  positive 
influences  to  turn  the  young  toward  the  ministry. 

Young  men  should  read  biographies  of  renowned  preachers  and 
missionaries  and  hear  great  preachers.  It  inspires  them,  and  draws 
them  to  the  ministry.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  movement  in  the  colleges, 
and  student  summer  conferences  help  mightily  in  deciding  to  preach 
the  gospel. 

The  Catholic  Church  gets  its  priests  among  the  boys.  It  selects 
them,  turns  their  minds  toward  the  priesthood,  and  later  ordains 
them.  The  Protestant  Church  would  do  well  to  look  to  the  boys 
for  ministers. 

The  periodicals  of  the  Church  can  help  by  constantly  holding 
up  the  need  of  more  workers,  and  how  to  get  them. 

A  commission  might  well  take  up  this  task,  make  a  complete 
study  of  conditions,  and  then  bring  a  report  to  the  Church.  This 
need  of  ministers  should  be  emphasized  by  the  General  Conference, 
by  the  annual  conferences,  by  preachers  everywhere,  by  the  homes, 
the  colleges,  the  professors,  the  press,  and  workers  generally,  always 
coming  back  to  prayer  in  action  as  the  means  of  getting  'laborers 
for  his  vineyard." 


THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  AND  BROTHERHOOD  AND 
LEADERSHIP 

BY  CHARLES  W.  BREWBAKER 

I  know  of  no  department  in  the  church  upon  which  the  coming 
of  God's  kingdom  so  much  depends  as  the  Sunday  school.  It  is  the 
religious  school  and  the  conserving  agency  of  the  church,  yet  the 
church  is  just  now  awakening  to  her  duty  and  to  the  possibilities 
of  the  teaching  function. 

Church  statistics  tell  us  that  at  least  seventy-five  per  cent,  of 
those  who  unite  with  the  church  on  profession  of  faith  come  through 
the  Sunday  school,  and  one  of  the  key-notes  struck  by  leaders  in  re- 
ligious education  is  the  purpose  to  reach  every  child  in  early  ado- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  163 

lescence  for  Jesus  Christ  and  the  church.  Only  in  recent  years  has 
the  church  been  willing  to  give  cognizance  to  the  inestimable  worth 
of  the  Sunday  school  as  an  evangelizing  agency.  This  has  been 
brought  about  gradually  by  a  process  of  religious  education  and  by 
placing  the  emphasis  on  conservation  as  a  means  of  salvation  and 
as  a  necessary  part  of  true  evangelism. 

The  old  idea  was  that  salvation  consists  in  a  species  of  religious 
acts  leading  to  regeneration,  commonly  called  conversion,  and  hav- 
ing but  one  end,  to  be  ready  for  heaven  when  one  dies.  That  notion 
is  no  longer  held  by  well-thinking,  Christian  men.  The  church  is 
believed  to  be  more  than  a  rescue  station  with  an  annual,  spasmodic 
effort  of  two  or  more  weeks  to  reach,  without  much  thought  and 
preparation,  as  many  of  the  wicked  people  of  the  community  as  pos- 
sible. 

The  child  has  become  an  object  of  unusual  interest.  His  whole 
life  is  considered  in  the  scheme  of  salvation,  and  his  relation  to  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  share  in  its  establishment  go  to  make  up 
part  of  the  content  of  his  religious  training.  This  teaching,  while  it 
is  Biblical,  somehow  was  lost  in  the  past. 

UNITED   BRETHREN    SUNDAY-SCHOOL    PROGRESS 

Our  denomination  to-day  looks  with  pride  at  the  advance  she 
has  made  within  the  last  decade,  especially  in  the  Sunday-school 
department.  At  the  end  of  the  year  1903,  we  had  3,519  Sunday 
schools,  with  263,960  scholars  enrolled,  and  36,760  officers  and 
teachers.  After  ten  years,  our  Year  Book  reports  3,380  Sunday 
schools  with  382,388  scholars  and  39,933  officers  and  teachers.  This 
shows  that  while  we  have  139  schools  less  than  ten  years  ago,  yet 
we  have  an  increase  of  118,420  pupils  and  3,173  more  officers  and 
teachers.  This  makes  an  average  annual  increase  of  scholars  of 
11,842  and  of  officers  and  teachers,  317.  I  regret,  however,  that 
our  Year  Book  for  1913  shows  a  decrease  in  the  enrollment  of 
14,143. 

As  I  look  at  this  splendid  body  of  United  Brethren  men  and 
leaders,  representing  but  one  part  of  the  great  church  of  Christ,  I 
am  thrilled  because  I  know  you  are  in  accord  with  what  I  say  and 
are  anxious  to  build  up  a  greater  church  for  Christ. 

Men,  let  me  say  that  our  country  affords  a  rich  field  for  con- 
structive  Sunday-school  work.     Expansion   should   be   the   slogan. 


164  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

We  are  told  that  there  are  more  than  twenty  million  children  and 
young  people  under  twenty  years  of  age  in  this  country  without 
any  religious  instruction  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Why  not  give  them 
the  gospel  and  share  in  the  glory  of  their  salvation  ?  Before  the  end 
of  the  next  twenty-five  years,  at  least  one  million  should  be  enrolled 
within  our  own  Sunday-school  ranks,  with  hundreds  of  new  schools 
and  churches  in  needy  places.  This  will  mean  a  greater  United 
Brethren  Church,  and  above  all,  the  enlargement  of  the  kingdom  of 
our  God  among  men. 

A  CONSTRUCTIVE,  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  PROGRAM 

A  constructive,  religious  education  program  for  all  our  Sunday 
schools  and  colleges  must  be  our  objective,  all  leading  to  the  rounded 
development  of  the  individual  and  the  salvation  of  the  entire  man. 
The  men  of  our  denomination  must  be  united  in  sounding  a  clear 
note  which  will  inspire  every  United  Brethren  in  this  land  and  in 
our  foreign  fields  to  give  the  children  and  youth  the  best  possible 
instruction  and  inspiration  which  will  lead  them  to  Qirist  and  into 
the  Church. 

We  must  no  longer  be  content  with  giving  our  children  once  a 
week  for  a  few  minutes,  by  illy-prepared  and  inefficient  teachers, 
a  series  of  unrelated  lessons  from  the  Word  of  God.  Religious  edu- 
cation and  public-school  education  must  be  related.  The  laws  of 
psychology  and  of  pedagogy  must  be  observed.  Courses  of  study 
suited  for  the  different  periods  of  life  must  be  a  part  of  the  pro- 
gram. The  religious  education  of  Sunday  must  be  supplemented 
by  a  well-thought-out  system  of  religious  instruction  by  all  our 
churches  at  some  time  or  times  during  the  week.  The  sooner  this 
can  be  done,  the  sooner  will  we  produce  a  generation  of  men  and 
women  with  strong  character,  with  a  proper  conception  of  God  and 
humanity,  and  a  sane  understanding  of  the  part  they  shall  take  in 
the  world  program. 

In  this  program  of  education  the  world  interests  must  consti- 
tute a  part.  Systematic  and  intelligent  instruction  must  be  given 
not  only  in  the  Bible,  but  in  those  interests  to  which  the  Bible  re- 
lates such  as  home  and  foreign  missions,  church  erection,  educa- 
tion, temperance,  the  family,  social  service,  business,  and  other 
phases  of  life's  interests. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  16d 

Education  in  the  grace  of  giving  must  be  given.  Thorough 
training  in  this  must  begin  with  the  child.  Men,  I  stand  before 
vou  to-day  to  plead  with  you  to  give  our  Sunday-school  army  a 
chance  in  the  study  and  support  of  Christian  benevolences  of  the 
Church. 

THE    SCHOOL   OF   THE    WHOLE    CHURCH 

I  am  convinced  that  if  the  officials  of  our  local  churches  in  their 
plans  for  aggressive  work  in  all  their  business  meetings  would  con- 
sider the  Sunday  school  as  the  religious  school  of  the  whole  church, 
with  the  highest  conception  of  training  in  mind,  and  would  plan  to 
equip  and  support  their  Sunday  schools  by  giving  an  ample  appro- 
priation from  the  church  treasury  each  year  with  a  view  to  the 
school  ofiferings  going  to  benevolences,  for  the  purpose  of  extending 
the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  we  would  soon  have  a  church  member- 
ship with  the  vision  of  our  Christ,  our  treasuries  would  be  filled, 
and  a  vast  army  of  our  best  young  people  would  be  ready  to  give 
their  lives  to  the  service  of  God  in  the  extension  of  his  kingdom 
throughout  the  world.  We  have  been  counting  numbers  long 
enough.  We  must  consider  the  quality  of  training  given  as  well. 
We  have  been  making  special  appeals  to  our  Sunday  schools  for 
money  for  numerous  local  and  general  interests  without  education. 
Love  must  be  taught  as  the  true  motive  for  giving. 

THE  BROTHERHOOD  AND  LEADERSHIP 

I  am  also  to  speak  of  the  Brotherhood  as  an  agency  "needed  to 
call  out  and  train  leaders."  It  is  agreed  that  this  department  is  very 
closely  related  to,  and  in  most  cases  is  interwoven  with,  the  work 
of  the  Sunday  school,  many  of  our  Brotherhoods  being  organized 

men's  classes.  .    . 

The  challenge  of  the  church  to-day  to  save  the  world  is  a  chal- 
lenge to  the  men  of  the  church.  Like  a  sleeping  giant  the  church 
of  Christ  is  awaking  from  her  slumbers  in  recent  years  and  her  great 
body  of  strong  men  are  lining  up  to  the  task  as  never  before.  As 
God  called  men  in  the  Old  Testament  times  to  be  his  prophets  and 
evangelists,  and  as  Jesus  called  men  to  be  his  disciples  and  apostles, 
and  on  going  away  committed  to  them  the  task  of  completing  his 
propaganda,  so  to-day  he  calls  men  to  the  apostolic  idea  and  the 
study  of  the  many  personal  problems  relating  to  life.    Many  already 


166  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

are  anxious  to  relate  themselves  to  the  world  program.  It  is  evident 
that  no  local  Brotherhood  can  long  exist  that  lives  for  itself  alone. 
Men  are  realizing  as  never  before  that  personal  salvation  and  devel- 
opment cannot  be  had  by  introspection  alone,  and  by  so-called  per- 
sonal piety,  but  there  must  be  the  relating  of  one's  self  to  the  needs 
of  others  and  of  the  whole  world,  and  the  giving  of  one's  self  in 
helping  to  supply  those  needs. 

When  all  the  United  Brethren  men  and  boys,  one  hundred  thou- 
sand or  more,  unite  in  thought,  love,  and  purpose  into  one  great 
Brotherhood,  and  become  willing  to  unite  as  individuals  in  study- 
ing the  great  world  questions  of  our  nation  and  the  community, 
and  when  each  man  will  do  his  part  in  bringing  others  into  a  saving 
relationship  with  Christ,  in  evangelizing  the  non-Christian  world 
and  helping  to  solve  the  many  social  and  religious  problems  in  the 
home  land,  God's  kingdom  will  come  and  his  will  be  done  on  earth 
as  it  is  in  heaven. 

Our  Brotherhood  objectives  must  not  simply  be  printed  on 
paper,  but  must  be  embodied  in  the  activities  of  every  local  Brother- 
hood, if  we  would  see  this  world  brought  to  Christ.  Bible  study, 
winning  men  and  boys  to  Jesus  Christ  and  the  church,  promoting 
the  spirit  of  brotherliness,  magnifying  the  church  and  enlisting  men 
in  the  work  and  worship  of  the  local  church  and  in  all  worthy  move- 
ments for  social,  civic,  and  industrial  betterment,  co-operating  with 
the  denominational  boards  in  making  real  their  ideals  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  are  some  of  the  objectives 
that  must  actuate  the  life  of  every  true  United  Brethren  Christian 
man. 

THE   LIMITED  PART   IN  THE  BUDGET 

Men,  listen!  Only  six  per  cent,  of  $225,000  of  our  general 
benevolence  budget,  or  $13,000  (if  raised)  goes  for  the  promotion 
of  the  Sunday-school,  Brotherhood,  and  Young  People's  work  of 
our  denomination.  To-day  the  calls  are  so  numerous,  the  program 
so  big,  the  challenge  so  mighty,  the  task  so  tremendous,  that  a  dozen 
or  more  trained  men  would  not  be  too  many,  had  we  the  money  to 
send  them  out  to  carry  on  this  necessary  propaganda  of  religious 
education.  I  appeal  to  every  man  here  to  add  his  strength  in  mak- 
ing the  Sunday  school  and  Brotherhood  efficient  educational  agencies 
for  strengthening  our  local  churches,  for  enlarging  our  denomina- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  167 

tional  borders,  and  for  hastening  the  kingdom  of  God  among  men. 
''We  can  do  it  if  we  will."    "Let  us  get  together." 


THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETY  A  FACTOR  NEEDED 
TO  CALL  OUT  AND  TRAIN  LEADERS 

BY   O.    T.   DEEVER 

The  greatest  problem  any  pastor  ever  has  to  solve  is  how  to 
utilize  and  direct  the  young  life  within  his  touch.  I  have  a  strong 
and  persistent  feeling  that  the  Church  has  sadly  neglected  the  youth 
under  its  influence.  We  have  given  far  too  little  encouragement  and 
sympathetic  help  to  those  agencies  calculated  to  promote  the  wel- 
fare of  our  children  and  young  people. 

I  know  of  only  one  way  to  stop  the  Mississippi  River;  that  is 
to  go  up  to  its  source,  where  little  springs  gush  from  a  hundred  hill- 
sides, and  stop  these,  or  turn  them  out  of  their  channels.  No  wall 
of  adamant  constructed  by  the  united  genius  of  the  world  could 
dam  up  the  mighty  sweep  of  the  river  at  its  mouth.  There  is  only 
one  way  to  destroy  the  church,  and  that  is  to  turn  the  little  springs 
of  life,  flowing  from  our  family  firesides,  away  from  the  church. 
If  we  can  make  these  streams  of  life  tributary  to  the  church,  all 
the  powers  of  hell  are  not  sufficient  to  stop  the  onward  progress  of 
the  mighty  river  of  salvation. 

LEADERSHIP_,  TRAINING,  AND  THE  TRAINING  AGENCY 

There  are  three  general  propositions  which  I  hope  to  demon- 
strate. First,  organized  religious  activity  is  impossible  without 
leadership.  Second,  good  leadership  is  impossible  without  train- 
ing. Third,  the  Young  People's  Society  is  an  essential  factor  in  dis- 
covering and  training  leadership  in  the  church. 

To  say  that  organized  religious  activity  is  utterly  impossible 
without  leadership  is  to  say  that  the  church  is  utterly  impossible 
without  leadership.  The  church  presupposes  concerted  actjion; 
leadership  is  a  means  whereby  religious  activity  can  be  unified  and 
made  effective.  Organized  church  life  is  as  impossible  without 
leadership  as  the  solar  system  is  without  the  sun  to  hold  it  together. 

The  ancient  trireme  is  a  good  illustration  of  this  fact.  Three 
banks  of  oarsmen  dipped  their  oars  in  perfect  unison.    Almost  un- 


168  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

believable  speed  was  the  result.  Without  unified  action  the  oars 
would  have  been  in  constant  tangle  and  progress  would  have  been 
impossible.  United  action  v^^as  secured  by  the  over-rower,  who,  sit- 
ting at  the  helm,  gave  the  stroke.  All  oars,  by  taking  their  cue  from 
the  over-rower,  were  able  to  move  with  marvelous  rhythm  and  unity. 

LEADERSHIP  NECESSARY  IN  INDUSTRY 

Mr.  Walker,  in  his  political  economy,  says,  "The  armies  of  in- 
dustry can  no  more  be  raised,  equipped,  held  together,  moved,  and 
engaged  without  their  commanders  than  can  the  armies  of  war." 
I  hold  in  my  hand  a  pin.  I  want  to  illustrate  with  this  pin,  first  of 
all,  that  concerted  action  in  industry  brings  wonderful  results,  and 
second,  that  concerted  action  is  impossible  without  leadership.  I  am 
told  that  one  person  working  alone  can  produce  scarcely  tv/enty  pins 
a  day.  There  are  so  many  diflferent  operations  to  perform  and 
tools  must  be  changed  so  frequently  that  the  most  of  the  time  and 
energy  is  consumed  in  making  these  changes  and  adjusting  one's  self 
to  each  new  operation,  there  being  about  a  thousand  different  things 
to  do  in  making  a  pin.  Ten  men,  by  uniting  their  efforts  under  the 
direction  of  competent  leadership,  can  make  an  average  of  4,800 
pins  a  day,  a  gain  of  24,000  per  cent.  To-day  one  thousand  persons 
are  employed  in  all  the  processes  of  pin-making.  This  number 
working  together  are  able  to  produce  an  average  of  twenty-five 
tons  a  week.  In  a  pound  there  are  four  thousand  pins  of  middling 
size.  These  one  thousand  men  produce,  therefore,  two  hundred 
million  pins  a  week,  or  an  average  of  one  hundred  thousand  a  day 
for  each,  a  gain  of  five  hundred  thousand  per  cent,  over  working 
single  handed,  without  the  co-operation  of  others,  and  therefore 
without  the  leadership  of  another. 

SOCIETY    IMPOSSIBLE    WITHOUT   LEADERSHIP 

Human  society  advances  by  units,  each  unit  having  a  center. 
The  two  important  units  of  society  are  the  home  and  state.  Without 
leadership  and  control,  home  life  is  a  farce,  and  the  home  a  plague 
spot.  You  may  talk  of  home  as  a  republic  and  all  such  nonsense, 
but  there  must  be  parental  direction  and  leadership.  Home  is  under 
dual  leadership ;  father  is  king,  mother  is  queen,  and  here  exists  the 
greatest  kingdom  on  earth.  Without  leadership  and  control  in  state, 
anarchy  would  prevail.    There  must  be  authority.    Hell  would  turn 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  169 

loose  in  most  cities  to-day  if  all  authority  and  municipal  leadership 
were  suddenly  to  cease. 

THE  'VoHEE"  man  and  THE  CHURCH 

I  am  reminded  of  the  old-fashioned  barn-raising.  The  great 
frame  work  of  the  barn  having  been  previously  mortised  and  fitted, 
was  to  be  put  up  in  a  day  by  a  barn-raising  bee.  It  required  some 
seventy-five  men  of  the  neighborhood,  far  and  near,  with  pike  and 
peavey  and  pole  and  handspike  to  lift  the  huge  frame-work  into 
place.  This  was  not  accomplished  by  one  man  stepping  forward 
and  giving  a  lift  to  a  piece  of  timber,  and  then  an  other  lifting,  and 
then  another.  All  took  hold  together,  then  one  of  the  number  stood 
aside  and  said,  "All  ready,  men— Yohee!"  Without  the  "yohee''- 
man,  barn-raising  would  have  been  impossible ;  some  one  must  say 
''AH  together — Yohee!"  In  every  church  there  must  be  "yohee" 
men  if  the  work  is  to  be  accomplished. 

And  may  I  say,  brethren,  that  every  church  that  makes  any 
thing  more  out  of  its  pastor  than  a  leader  is  committing  a  crime 
against  heaven.  Some  pastors  are  janitor  and  everything  else.  One 
church  was  greatly  pleased  with  their  pastor  because  he  took  paint 
and  brush  and  painted  the  building.  Brethren  of  the  ministry,  we 
are  not  to  do  the  work  of  the  Church,  but  lead  the  Church  to  do  it. 

GOOD   LEADERSHIP    IMPOSSIBLE    WITHOUT   TRAINING 

All  that  I  have  said  about  the  need  of  leadership  enables  me 
to  say  with  emphasis  that  good  leadership  is  impossible  without 
training.  The  spider  spins  his  web  with  marvelous  mechanical  ex- 
actness, by  instinct.  The  bee  builds  his  hexagonal  treasure  house  of 
a  cell  with  great  skill  and  perfection — without  any  training.  The 
bird  builds  its  nest  without  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  carpentry  or 
without  spending  time  as  an  apprentice;  but  man  must  learn  prac- 
tically everything  he  knows.  He  must  learn  to  walk  and  talk; 
his  activities  are  almost  entirely  the  result  of  practice  and  instruc- 
tion. 

THE  YOUNG  PEOPLe's  SOCIETY  AND  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  LEADERSHIP 

All  that  I  have  said  about  leadership  and  training  leads  me  now 
to  say  that  the  Young  People's  Society  is  an  essential  factor  needed 
to  discover  and  train  leadership.    The  best  means  that  has  ever  been 


170  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

devised  for  the  accomplishment  of  certain  kinds  of  Christian  train- 
ing, I  believe,  is  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society,  and  children's  and 
young  people's  societies  with  objects  and  plans  of  work  similar  to 
the  Christian  Endeavor  Society. 

A  church  without  some  such  an  organization  is  like  a  carpenter 
without  a  hammer  or  saw,  or  a  farmer  without  plow  or  harrow. 
The  mechanic  must  have  well-prepared  tools  if  he  is  to  secure  cer- 
tain desirable  results ;  likewise  the  church  must  be  equipped  for  serv- 
ice. The  best  tool  I  know  of  to  secure  certain  kinds  of  Christian 
training  is  the  Oiristian  Endeavor  Society.  The  church  shorn  of 
its  Endeavor  societies  is  so  seriously  crippled  that  I  have  very  grave 
doubts  about  its  being  able  to  even  approach  the  task  God  has  com- 
mitted to  it.  True,  men  and  women  maimed,  crippled,  blind,  deaf, 
or  otherwise  handicapped  have  been  able  to  rise  above  their  mis- 
fortune and  attain  great  success.  One  man  having  both  hands  re- 
moved by  an  accident,  acquired  great  skill  as  a  musician  by  using 
his  toes.  But  in  such  cases,  the  misfortune  is  providential  and  un- 
avoidable, and  so  God  blesses  in  an  unusual  way  the  efforts  of  the 
cripple.  The  case  of  the  church  without  a  Young  People's  Society 
is  the  church's  own  fault.  The  chances  are  that  the  reason  it  does 
not  have  this  strong  right  arm  of  help  is  due  to  neglect  or  indiffer- 
ence. This  being  so,  nothing  but  barrenness  and  loss  can  result. 
Misfortunes  that  are  unavoidable  sometimes  become  stepping-stones 
to  success,  but  wicked,  willful  neglect  can  never  result  in  anything 
but  calamity  and  ruin. 

CHRISTIAN    ENDEAVOR    AND   THE   TRAINING   OF   LEADERS 

The  supreme  aim,  the  all-consuming  ambition  of  the  Christian 
Endeavor  movement,  is  to  discover  and  train  leaders.  Every  society 
that  fails  to  perform  the  one  mission  of  its  existence,  ''training  for 
service,"  ought  to  be  relegated  to  the  scrap  heap  at  once. 

The  Christian  Endeavor  aims  to  give  symmetrical  training. 
Some  Christians  are  wonderfully  interested  in  good  citizenship, 
but  care  nothing  about  missions.  Others  are  interested  in  soul  win- 
ning, but  apparently  have  little  concern  for  their  enlistment  in  Chris- 
tian service  after  being  saved. 

CHRISTIAN     ENDEAVOR    AND    THE    TRAINABLE     AGE 

All  religious  thinkers  to-day  agree  that  there  is  a  trainable  age, 
and  there  is  also  a  time  in  our  lives  when  habits  become  so  fixed 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  171 

that  nothing  but  a  miracle  of  grace  can  change  them.  Up  to  a  cer- 
tain age  things  stick  to  the  mind  of  youth  pretty  much  as  the 
"stick-tight"  used  to  adhere  to  our  trousers  when  as  boys  we  went 
for  the  cows.  The  old-fashioned  bullet  mould  also  illustrates  the 
elasticity  of  the  child's  mind.  The  moulten  lead  was  poured  into  the 
receiving  mould  and  adjusted  itself  with  ease  to  its  shape,  and  soon 
became  fixed. 

That  Christian  Endeavor  has  been  a  successful  training  agency, 
all  who  have  watched  the  movement  agree.  I  have  seen  the  timid, 
backward  youth  under  the  tutelage  of  a  Young  People's  Society, 
develop  into  confident,  effective  workers  in  the  church. 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  go  into  detail  to  demonstrate  the  truth 
of  this  statement.  If  Christian  Endeavor  were  barren  in  the  one 
realm  where  fruit  may  be  expected,  it  would  either  have  died  or  been 
chloroformed  long  ago.  Instead  of  being  dead  or  dying,  a  remark- 
able activity  is  manifested  on  all  sides  and  the  cause  is  prospering 
as  never  before. 

I  covet  the  power,  above  everything  else  in  the  world,  to  be 
able  to  understand  and  help  the  young.  I  most  earnestly  crave  your 
prayers  for  God's  leading  in  taking  up  my  new  duties. 

Some  time  ago  I  saw  a  beautiful  picture,  showing  an  angel  with 
earnest,  intent  look  bending  over  some  object  not  quite  discernable 
at  first  look.  Angels  are  making  their  way  to  and  from  the  celes- 
tial city,  apparently  greatly  agitated  and  beckoning  the  angel  on  the 
earth  back  to  the  gates  of  pearl  and  streets  of  gold.  One  mes- 
senger plucks  her  elbow  and  bids  her  return  to  the  splendor  of  the 
city  of  light  and  joy,  but  the  angel  on  the  earth  is  unmoved  and 
gives  no  heed  to  their  entreaties.  Looking  more  closely,  I  saw  that 
the  angel  was  bending  over  the  kneeling  form  of  a  child  with  hands 
clasped  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  and  I  learned  that,  better  than  be- 
ing in  heaven  is  to  be  on  earth  teaching  a  child  to  pray.  Brethren 
of  the  Congress,  I  would  rather  be  down  here.  Secretary  of  the 
Young  People's  Department  of  the  United  Brethren  Church,  putting 
my  life  up  against  the  life  of  the  youth  about  us,  leading  them  to 
Christ  and  to  efficient  service,  than  to  be  in  heaven  now ! 


172  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

THE  POWER  OF  OUR  PRESS 

BY  W.   R.   FUNK 

The  word  ''power"  carries  the  meaning  of  potency,  which  is 
the  strength  to  make  change.  Power  is  a  real  cause,  a  potentiahty ; 
that  which  produces  results,  due  to  its  own  account,  either  moral  or 
physical. 

"Our  Press"  is  a  collective  name,  and  includes  the  entire  force 
of  editors,  publisher,  and  all  who  have  a  part  in  the  making  of  our 
literature.  This  collective  idea  lends  importance  to  the  subject  we 
are  to  discuss,  for  "the  power  of  our  press"  determines  the  destiny 
of  every  agency  at  work  in  our  church  life  and  increases  or  dimin- 
ishes the  efficiency  of  every  agency. 

If  this  be  true,  we  can  well  note  the  words  of  Bailey,  when 
he  said,  "We  live  in  deeds,  not  years ;  in  thoughts,  not  breaths ;  in 
feelings,  not  in  figures  on  a  dial.  We  should  count  time  by  heart 
throbs.  He  most  lives  who  thinks  most,  feels  the  noblest  and  the 
best."  The  throbbing  heart  of  "our  press"  is  a  ceaseless  energy, 
pulsating  the  life  blood  of  truth  into  every  part  of  our  denomina- 
tional being. 

More  than  one  million  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Tele- 
scopes, thirty-two  pages  each,  went  into  the  homes  of  our  people  the 
past  year,  freighted  with  truth.  Nearly  two  million,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  copies  of  the  Watchword,  and  almost  two  mil- 
lion Friends,  sixteen  and  eight  pages  respectively,  touched  the  lives 
of  our  boys  and  girls  and  our  adult  scholars  and  Christian  En- 
deavorers.  There  were  nincty-tzvo  million  pages  of  the  size  of  the 
Telescope  placed  before  our  people  in  one  year.  To  this  must  be 
added  the  mighty  volume  of  our  Bible-school  helps  that  have  been 
used  in  our  schools  by  the  more  than  four  hundred  thousand 
scholars. 

There  are  three  great  enemies  of  truth  in  the  world — ignorance, 
inaction,  and  death.  The  Church  is  set  to  overcome  these  in  the 
character  and  life  of  its  membership.  Ignorance  and  inaction  arc 
but  the  precursors  of  death.  The  measure  of  the  Qiurch's  success 
is  the  measure  of  its  triumph  over  inaction  and  ignorance.  The 
antidote  to  these  conditions  of  lethargy  is  the  dissemination  of  in- 
formation, provided  that  information  is  true  knowledge. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  173 

The  strengthening  of  intelligence  is  the  best  method  of  making 
the  church  ni ember  better  and  more  efficient. 

The  church's  work  depends  upon  the  individual.  We  have  al- 
lowed the  truth  to  be  applied  collectively,  and,  as  a  result,  persons 
have  neither  had  vision  nor  felt  responsibility.  A  sermon,  at  its 
very  best,  can  be  addressed  only  to  a  group  of  persons,  and  its  ap- 
plication, therefore,  must  be  but  general,  while  the  written  message, 
if  read,  will  force  its  way  into  the  very  brain  of  the  reader,  and 
although  much  may  mentally  evaporate  or  be  covered  by  attention 
to  other  things,  yet  the  entrance  of  ''truth  giveth  light,"  and  the 
vision  of  human  intelligence  is  thereby  extended. 

And  here  it  is  well  to  remember  that  where  books  and  period- 
icals are  read,  the  very  opposite  of  death  is  manifested — life.  We 
must  not  forget  that  reading  is  something  much  more  than  the 
simple  naming  of  words.  It  is  vastly  more  than  the  exercise  of 
memory.  I  know  a  man  who  is  reading  much  and  remembering 
nearly  everything  he  reads;  who  is  the  most  profound  bigot,  self- 
conceited  egotist,  with  the  narrowest  vision  of  things  and  the  great- 
est fault-finder  I  ever  knew.  The  less  of  that  kind  of  reading,  the 
better  for  the  Church.  To  read  with  a  view  to  the  service  you  per- 
sonally can  render  to  the  kingdom  is  the  height  of  human  intelli- 
gence, and  may  be  attained  by  the  most  humble  follower  of  our 
Lord,  Jesus  Christ.  Reading  is  like  a  ''booster"  in  connection  with 
an  electric  battery.  The  battery  is  a  place  of  storage  of  current  for 
future  use.  The  mind  is  the  mental  battery  of  the  soul.  Reading, 
like  the  "booster,"  helps  to  fill  the  mind  and  also  equalizes  the  cur- 
rent of  truth  in  the  service  you  are  rendering.  In  other  words, 
this  kind  of  reading  will  never  let  the  voltage  run  low  in  your  spir- 
itual work.  Who  has  ever  read  John  17  without  feeling  the  divine 
flow  of  heavenly  power  in  his  soul?  Where  is  the  discouraged 
brother  who  has  failed  to  be  helped  up  and  out  by  reading  Pilgrim's 
Progress  from  the  slough  of  despair  to  the  hills  of  bliss? 

This  leads  to  the  next  thought :  TJiis  developed  intelligence 
naturally  and  automatically  increases  the  vision  of  the  church  mem- 
ber. 

The  illumination  by  truth  is  the  clarifief  of  spiritual  atmos- 
phere. It  is  not  a  criticism  on  the  truth  of  God  to  say,  that  the 
church  has  set  it  in  an  atmosphere  of  mystery.  The  Roman  Church 
always  did  do  this,  and  Protestantism  has  not  been  without  its  fault 


174  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

in  this  matter.  On  this  account  the  struggle  in  world-wide  restora- 
tion has  been  slow,  so  slow  that  at  times  the  cause  of  truth,  as  re- 
vealed in  Jesus  Christ,  semed  to  be  at  an  absolute  standstill.  There 
was  no  one  who  rose  in  the  midst  of  the  people  with  a  vision.  His- 
toric truth  seemed  lost.  Literature  was  reduced  to  the  minimum. 
Hope  was  blasted,  and  the  church  and  nations  fell  into  chaos  and 
ruin. 

What  was  the  key-note  of  the  German  Reformation?  Luther's 
vision.  God,  give  us  a  lot  of  Luthers  with  vision  in  our  local 
churches !  The  dead  ones  will  wake  up  as  sure  as  the  truth  of 
Jesus  Christ  awoke  the  soul  of  the  German  reformer.  What  was 
the  impelling  force  in  the  lives  of  Otterbein,  Asbury,  Edwards, 
Finney,  and  Moody?  Vision — a  spiritual  vision  of  the  world  re- 
deemed, a  vision  of  all  men  loving  and  obeying  God  and  walking  in 
his  truth. 

This  is  what  our  literature  is  to  bring.  Not  a  narrow,  depart- 
mental conception  of  our  church  life,  but  the  comprehensive  work, 
when  the  whole  Church,  every  member,  shall  seek  the  coming  of 
His  kingdom  in  the  uplift  of  every  life.  Our  press,  with  all  its 
power,  stands  for  the  widest  vision. 

I  would  place  the  greatest  emphasis  upon  the  work  of  the  ed- 
itors. The  editorial  work  is  the  greatest  that  can  be  done,  if  it  is 
properly  done.  The  responsibility  reposing  in  the  editorial  positions 
of  the  Church  is  very  great.  We  could  all  well  say,  who  is  sufficient 
unto  the  task!  Lives,  the  souls  of  men,  depend  upon  the  character 
of  this  service.  Here  we  connect  with  the  question  of  organization. 
It  is  useless  to  organize  without  an  active  propaganda  following 
the  organization.  Our  periodicals  can,  do,  and  will  push  forward 
the  work  of  the  departments,  giving  our  people  knowledge,  plans, 
enthusiasm,  and  co-operation  in  establishing  the  truth  in  the  dark 
places  of  earth. 

Our  press  is  the  binding  unit  which  holds  all  the  other  depart- 
ments together,  making  them  as  one  army  against  sin,  and  one  tre- 
mendous force  in  upbuilding  of  character.  Let  me  give  this  illus- 
tration :  I  am  putting  on  our  switchboard  in  our  power  plant  at  the 
Publishing  House,  a  little  controller.  Its  duty  is  to  regulate  the 
load  on  the  generators.  In  doing  its  work,  it  excites  the  fields  of 
the  big  generators  and  the  voltage  does  not  vary  more  than  one  per 
cent. — no  slowing  down  of  the  machines,  not  a  flicker  in  the  lights. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  17 S 

Thus  the  heavy  peak  loads  are  taken  care  of  without  any  trouble 
or  danger  to  the  engines  or  generators.  Our  press  is  just  that  in 
our  church  organization — a  controller  of  the  currents  of  thought. 
The  peak  load  may  be  on,  then  the  fields  are  excited  a  little  to  take 
care  of  the  extra  load,  and  everything  moves  on  smoothly,  safely, 
and  successfully. 


THE  ANNUAL  CONFERENCE 

D.  D.  LOWERY 

The  form  of  government  of  the  Church  of  the  United  Breth- 
ren in  Christ  is  republican  in  its  institutional  features,  and  demo- 
cratic in  its  legislative  functions  and  its  administrative  affairs.  It 
is  important  that  these  chief  characteristics  in  our  Church  polity  be 
borne  in  mind  as  we  seek  for  solutions  of  problems  that  arise  in  our 
Church  life  from  time  to  time,  and  as  we  look  to  discover  the  best 
methods  of  procedure  in  all  our  varied  activities. 

There  are  four  organic  bodies  in  our  church  organism,  naming 
them  in  the  order  of  their  proper  place  and  authority.  The  General 
Conference,  meeting  quadrennially,  which  is  primarily  legislative, 
with  administrative  powers ;  the  annual  conference,  which  is  purely 
administrative;  the  quarterly  conference,  administering  the  affairs 
of  local  congregation  or  pastoral  charge  in  its  relation  to  the  an- 
nual conference,  and  the  official  board,  also  a  local  body  of  the  con- 
gregation, meeting  in  regular  monthly  session  for  the  administration 
of  the  current  business  aft'airs  of  the  local  church. 

THE    FUNCTIONS    OF    THE    ANNUAL    CONFERENCE 

Thus  we  have  the  setting  of  the  annual  conference  in  its  rela- 
tion to  other  church  bodies,  and  to  this  I  am  expected  to  confine  my 
remarks,  speaking  more  especially  of  its  possibilities  for  aggressive 
leadership,  and  how  it  may  best  lead  the  Church  out  into  a  wider 
place  of  vision  and  into  a  larger  field  of  progressive  achievement 
along  all  lines  of  her  divinely  appointed  mission. 

First  of  all,  we  must  get  the  more  definite  and  accurate  setting 
of  the  annual  conference.  It  comprises  a  number  of  pastoral 
''fields  of  labor"  in  a  given  territory,  whose  bounds  are  "fixed  by  the 
General  Conference.     Its  membership  is  composed  of  all  the  reg- 


176  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

ularly  enrolled  ministers,  and  the  delegate  of  each  pastoral  charge, 
properly  elected  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  quarterly  conference.  The 
bishop  of  that  Bishop's  District,  is  the  presiding  officer.  Now,  I 
have  not  told  you  anything  that  you  did  not  know  before  precisely 
as  well  as  I  know  it.  But,  nevertheless,  it  is  necessary  to  bear  all 
this  in  mind  as  we  come  to  consider  the  proper  functions  of  this 
body,  and  in  our  endeavor  to  reach  the  right  viewpoint,  and  thus 
to  indicate,  if  possible,  the  strategic  points  for  the  most  vigorous 
campaign  or  campaigns  of  defensive  and  offensive  activity  in  prose- 
cuting the  stupendous  task  God  has  allotted  to  the  church  in  world- 
wide, human  redemption  and  the  promotion  of  righteousness  in  all 
liuman  relations. 

THE  NEWER  VIEW 

The  annual  conference  has  been  generally  considered  a  business 
body,  assembled  in  annual  session  for  the  transaction  of  such  busi- 
ness as,  according  to  the  prescribed  order  in  our  Book  of  DiscipHne, 
must  necessarily  be  attended  to ;  but  the  newer  view  is  that  it  should 
be  a  time  in  which  to  plan  for  the  larger  and  better  things  to  be 
carried  forward  during  the  ensuing  year.  The  hearing  of  pastor's 
reports  is  not  the  most  important  thing,  and  therefore  the  ancient 
routine  and  humiliating  form  of  such  procedure  in  a  number  of 
our  conferences  has  been  properly  relegated  to  its  appropriate  place. 
Nor  is  it  of  supreme  importance  that  long  addresses  be  inflicted 
upon  a  patient  and  long-suffering  annual  conference  by  those  who 
address  the  body  as  a  mere  perfunctory  discharge  of  duty,  repeating 
often  with  stately  strides  and  well-rounded  periods,  the  same  thing 
o'er  and  o'er. 

But  now,  if  these  are  not  the  most  important  matters  to  en- 
gage the  constant  and  undivided  attention  of  an  annual  conference, 
what  is  its  highest  and  most  important  mission?  And  by  what  sort 
of  program  is  the  conference  to  get  its  aims  and  plans  before  the 
Church  so  as  to  make  permanently  effective  its  divinely-ordained 
plans  ?  As  we  come  to  this  point,  let  it  be  remembered  that  here  are 
supposed  to  be  assembled  all  the  ministers  of  the  conference,  to- 
gether with  a  lay  representative  from  each  pastoral  charge.  What 
an  opportunity  this  affords  to  get  the  highest  and  best  results  of  the 
annual  conference  procedure  before  the  whole  Church  within  the 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  17/ 

territory  comprised  by  that  annual  conference!    What  is  it?    How 
shall  it  be  done? 

HOW  TO  DO   IT 

Getting  through  with  the  business  of  the  conference,  as  to  the 
reports  and  the  review  of  the  past  year's  records  and  doing  this 
just  as  speedily  as  possible,  and  without  unnecessary  and  blundering 
haste,  we  at  once  give  attention  to  the  more  important  things  that 
need  to  be  planned  for  and  to  put  them  into  immediate  and  effective 
operation.  But  this  must  be  done  intelligently,  and  with  as  compre- 
hensive knowledge  of  the  needs  and  the  conditions  that  must  be 
considered  as  it  is  possible  for  us  to  secure.  To  this  end,  a  pro- 
gram should  be  provided  for  the  proper  but  brief  discussion  of  all 
the  matters  involved,  giving  both  the  ministry  and  laity  opportunity 
to  study  the  questions  to  be  submitted,  and  so  come  prepared  to  tell 
us  what  their  ripened  experience  and  careful  observation  and  study 
have  led  them  to  conclude  as  to  the  best  thing  to  be  done  and  the 
best  method  for  doing  it  in  any  given  matter.  This  should  be  an 
open  and  perfectly  free  conference  for  discussion  and  inquiry,  wisely 
directed  by  the  presiding  Bishop  of  the  conference.  Not  only  mat- 
ters of  local  conference  concern,  but  also  those  of  general  church 
interest  should  thus  be  discussed.  Instead  of  the  usual  set  addresses 
by  the  General  Church  officers,  these  officers  gladly  should  share 
with  the  ministers  and  laymen  of  the  conference,  the  responsibility 
necessary  to  lift  our  people  to  higher  ideals  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

I  would  not  have  you  to  infer,  however,  from  what  I  here  say 
by  way  of  suggestion  as  to  the  program  to  be  presented  for  the  con- 
sideration of  annual  conference,  that  all  business  should  be  set 
aside.  We  must  give  proper  and  reverent  consideration  to  all  legiti- 
mate business  of  the  conference.  Happily  we  have  here  presented 
a  fine  opportunity  to  make  effective  both  of  these  features.  The 
annual  conference,  with  all  its  ministers  and  one  lay  representative 
from  each  pastoral  charge  present,  meet  under  favorable  conditions 
therefore  and  without  extra  expense.  All  the  requirements  for  a 
channel  of  information  and  inspiration,  and  all  this  in  the  regular 
order  of  its  business,  and  by  better  planned  prospective  are  pro- 
vided. 

In  such  an  annual  conference  session  as  I  am  here  endeavoring 
to  portray  to  you,  all  irrelevant  matters  necessarily  will  be  rigidly 


178  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

excluded  from  discussion.  Cheap  talk,  for  the  sake  of  talking  and 
hearing  one's  self  talk,  will  not  for  a  moment  be  tolerated.  The 
atmosphere  of  such  a  conference  is  fraught  with  high  pressure, 
forcing  the  weakest  and  smallest  of  us  to  higher  and  broader  think- 
ing and  to  more  determined  action.  The  program  itself  is  of  the 
highest  order,  and  compels  serious  thought  and  forceful  expression, 
born  of  profound  conviction,  the  purpose  of  which  will  not  end 
with  the  adoption,  in  a  perfunctory  manner,  of  sets  of  meaningless 
resolutions;  meaningless  because  they  are  immediately  put  away 
and  lost  in  the  capacious  pockets  of  our  indifference  and  forgetful- 
ness;  not  because  we  want  to  be  indifferent  and  forgetful,  but  be- 
cause we  have  not  yet  fully  awakened  from  our  sleep  and  our  eyes 
are  only  about  half  open,  and  we  have  not  yet  felt  the  mighty  grip 
of  the  divine  unction  to  make  us  keenly  sensible  of  our  responsi- 
bility and  obligation. 

To  make  such  a  course  of  procedure  all  the  more  successful 
and  finally  effective  with  permanent  results  of  good  to  the  whole 
Church,  the  annual  conference  should  necessarily  be  under  the  most 
thorough  organization  and  the  best  and  wisest  leadership,  appointed 
or  elected,  to  the  various  heads  of  committees  or  of  official  direction, 
from  the  Bishop  down.  Failing  in  this,  its  best  intentions  and  most 
hopeful  plans  and  conclusions  laboriously  worked  out  and  with  pre- 
cisest  accuracy  scheduled,  will  undoubtedly  prove  abortive. 

Furthermore,  there  must  be  strength  of  numbers,  prestige  of 
character  and  intelligence,  and  acknowledged  ability  back  of  any 
project  to  be  undertaken.  An  annual  conference  should  be  just  as 
large  as  it  properly  can  be,  so  as  to  give  it  force  behind  every  move- 
ment, and  the  courage  of  assured  power  in  the  face  of  possible  dif- 
ficulty or  opposition. 

To  get  this  new  order  of  things  properly  and  finally  estab- 
lished, when  it  shall  not  only  give  practically  universal  satisfaction, 
but  enlist  also  practically  universal  and  hearty  co-operation  in  the 
execution  of  the  plans  agreed  upon  by  the  annual  conference,  who- 
ever the  man  or  men  that  may  have  the  direction  of  its  affairs  in 
charge  may  be,  he  or  they  must  be  of  such  stuff  as  "beareth  all 
things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things." 


Onr  Men  and  Their  Task  179 

HOW  REPRODUCE  TFIE  NATIONAL  CONGRESS  IN  THE 
ANNUAL  CONFERENCE  SESSION? 

BY    M.    R.    BALLINGER 

During  the  sessions  of  this  great  Men's  Congress,  we  have  been 
enjoying  the  able  addresses  and  the  most  splendid  fellowship.  The 
influence  on  those  present  has  been  such  that  none  of  us  can  return 
to  our  homes  the  same  men  as  before.  This  Congress  should  be  the 
beginning  of  a  new  era  in  our  denominational  life  for  the  better 
extension  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  problem  which  confronts 
us  is  how  to  carry  the  inspiration  we  have  received  to  the  Church 
in  such  a  way  that  the  last  man  may  be  reached. 

Recognizing  the  needs  of  the  day,  our  annual  conferences,  in 
their  sessions,  should  seek  to  reproduce  the  National  Congress  by 
carrying  its  inspiration  to  every  pastor  and  at  least  one  layman 
frbm  every  charge.  In  the  past  our  conferences  from  time  to  time 
have  set  some  splendid  goals,  but  no  plan  has  been  formulated  to 
carry  them  to  a  successful  termination.  Why  not  revolutionize  our 
annual  conferences,  making  them  more  inspirational  and  conserving 
of  the  fruitage  of  well-laid  plans.  Make  them  constructive  institute 
periods.  Much  of  the  detail  work  of  our  conferences  can  be  elim- 
inated, thus  giving  time  for  a  school  of  methods  under  the  direction 
of  able  and  efficient  instructors. 

To  do  this,  an  outline  of  constructive  institute  work  should  be 
submitted  to  our  conference  program  committees  for  use  in  the 
sessions  of  our  annual  conferences.  Our  Bishops  and  general  of- 
ficers should  be  requested  to  place  such  a  plan  before  every  confer- 
ence in  the  very  near  future.  With  a  strong  institute  program,  our 
annual  conference  sessions  should  so  thrill  our  pastors  and  key 
laymen  with  inspiration  and  enthusiasm  that  a  new  vision  and  new 
life  of  activity  shall  come  upon  every  charge  within  our  denom- 
ination. 

The  following  brief  outline  of  the  method  of  procedure  in 
planning  such  an  institute  for  the  annual  conference  session  may  be 
suggestive : 

1.  Let  one  whole  day  be  set  aside  for  the  purpose  of  presenting 
clearly  our   denominational   opportunities   and   responsibilities. 

2.  This  must  be  made  a  great  day,  not  only  for  the  ministers 
and  regularly-elected  delegates  who  may  be  present  in  their  official 


180  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

capacity,  but  special  effort  should  be  made  to  secure  a  large  attend- 
ance of  our  men  throughout  the  entire  conference.  There  can  be 
from  one  to  three  persons  from  each  church  brought  into  such  a 
meeting.  The  conference  superintendent  should  bring  this  before 
the  people  and  pastors  of  every  local  church  during  the  last  quarter 
of  the  conference  year  and  see  that  churches  appoint  delegates  to 
this  meeting. 

3.  For  such  a  day  a  splendid  program  should  be  planned  for 
many  months  in  advance,  and  the  topics  carefully  assigned.  Much 
more  thoughtful  attention  should  be  given  to  the  building  of  such 
a  program  than  has  been  done  in  the  past.  The  annual  confer- 
ence affords  the  one  great  opportunity  of  the  entire  year  for  setting 
forth  in  a  comprehensive,  powerful  manner  the  things  that  need 
emphasis  in  lifting  all  the  churches  to  accomplish  greater  tasks. 
Hence,  every  person  bringing  a  message  should  be  impressed  with 
the  necessity  of  a  clear,  ringing  presentation.  The  conference  com- 
mittee on  program  should  co-operate  with  the  executive  committee 
of  the  Finance  Commission  in  planning  for  this  program  and  secure 
at  least  one  representative  from  the  commission  for  the  program. 
In  planning  this  program,  responsibility  should  be  placed  upon  the 
best  laymen  and  ministers  in  the  conference  to  get  under  the  tasks 
of  the  Church. 

4.  The  scope  of  the  program  must  be  sufficiently  wide  to  en- 
list the  largest  number  possible.  Of  course,  the  great,  uplifting  ap- 
peals of  the  denominational  needs  at  large  will  be  covered.  The 
responsibility  we  owe  to  God  for  world-wide  conquest  must  be 
burned  into  the  hearts  and  lives  of  our  people.  In  addition  to  this 
the  program  should  be  an  institute  in  which  is  clearly  set  forth 
the  way  in  which  these  things  can  be  accomplished.  Show  how  to 
develop  the  educational  agencies  in  the  local  church.  Also  there 
should  be  included  the  consideration  of  many  of  the  problems  of 
the  local  churches,  showing  them  the  way  to  victory  in  their  own 
fields,  such  as  community  evangelization,  Sunday-school  increase 
campaigns.  Young  People's  extension,  the  rural  church,  etc. 

5.  Deep,  earnest  prayer  should  prevail  in  every  detail  con- 
nected with  this  institute.  Divine  guidance  should  be  sought  in  the 
planning  of  the  program.  Every  congregation  should  be  led  to 
prayer  for  a  powerful  day  at  the  conference.  The  very  opening 
prayer  of  the  conference  session  should  set  it  forth  in  clear  pe^- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  181 

spective.  When  the  day  finally  arrives,  nothing  should  be  permit- 
ted to  interfere  with  the  program.  No  distraction  should  be  tol- 
erated. The  sessions  should  begin  promptly;  the  spirit  of  expec- 
tancy should  prevail;  the  program  should  be  carried  forward  with 
dispatch  and  enthusiasm.  All  the  people  should  be  led  to  inter- 
cession frequently  during  the  day.  God  will  certainly  use  such  an 
institute  period  to  transform  many  lives,  and  give  new  vision  and 
hope  and  method  for  the  achievements  of  the  ensuing  year. 

The  only  objection  that  has  been  raised  to  such  an  institute 
period  in  the  conference  has  been  the  element  of  time ;  but  every 
conference  that  has  tried  it  has  found  to  its  delight  that  it  facili- 
tates business  and  gives  the  uplift  so  essential  to  success. 


UNITED  BRETHREN  SUMMER  TRAINING  SCHOOLS 

BY   C.    E.   ASHCRAFT 

Jesus  took  his  disciples  to  the  mountains  for  visions,  to  the 
deserts  and  lakes  for  rest  and  recreation,  to  the  valleys  and  plains 
for  service,  and  to  all  the  world  for  sacrifice  and  love. 

The  summer  training  school  has  three  distinct  ends :  Efficiency, 
inspiration,  and  fellowship. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  forging  ahead 
because  of  its  summer  schools  for  training  leaders.  Its  men  are 
a  unit  in  saying  that  the  summer  schools  are  a  most  potent  factor 
in  the  accomplishing  of  their  work.  The  church  leaders  need  to 
be  educated  to  know  what  to  give  our  local  leaders  to  do.  It  may 
be  if  our  laymen  are  ineffective  it  is  because  the  leaders  of  the 
Church  have  not  shown  them  how  to  execute  their  visions.  The 
summer  conference  must  indicate  the  hozu  of  church  work. 

Inspiration  means  a  "breathing  in."  It  is  inspiriting — a  breath- 
ing in  of  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Inspiration  is  the  steam  in  the  boiler 
that  will  drive  our  organizations  and  executes  our  purposes. 

The  summer  conference  promotes  fellowship.  The  fellowship 
will  be  wholesome,  instructive,  and  invigorating.  To  mingle  with 
our  leaders,  to  discuss  and  plan  our  work,  to  seek  the  Source  of  all 
help  will  mean  added  efificiency.  Many  of  the  best  things  of  life  are 
caught,  not  taught.  To  be  with  men  of  God  from  seven  to  ten 
days,  and  to  come  in  contact  with  the  spirit  of  their  life,  to  discover 


182  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

the  secret  of  their  strength  and  power  is  real  fellowship.  The 
lingering  elements  of  the  school  will  not  be  the  addresses,  but  the 
fellowship.  Hear  Paul  praying  that  he  might  know  the  fellowship 
of  the  sufferings  of  Christ. 

THE   CUERICULUM    OF  THE   SUMMER   SCHOOL 

The  one  important  thing  about  the  summer  training  school 
is  the  curriculum.  In  order  to  serve  the  Church  adequately,  the 
curriculum  must  be  flexible,  being  changed  from  year  to  year  to 
accommodate  the  growing  needs  of  the  Church,  and  also  to  hold 
those  who  come  from  year  to  year.  A  certain  amount  of  required 
work  ought  to  be  done  each  year.  The  summer  training  school  is 
not  a  place  for  cessation  of  work,  but  a  place  where  hard  work  is 
to  be  done,  problems  are  to  be  solved  for  Christ  and  his  church. 

Several  books  ought  to  be  studied  and  recited  upon.  One  hour 
should  be  given  to  the  study  of  such  problems  as  these:  Rural  dis- 
tricts, city  churches,  home  missions,  foreign  missions,  evangelism, 
stewardship,  Sunday  school,  brotherhood,  young  people's  work,  lay- 
men organized  for  service,  etc.  Two  classes  or  more  ought  to  be 
offered  every  year.  This  class  work  should  be  such  that  at  least 
two  hours  of  preparation  should  be  needed. 

In  addition  to  this  there  should  be  classes  in  Bible  study. 
There  might  be  classes  in  ''Old  Testament  Historv,"  "Teachings 
of  the  Prophets,"  "The  Life  of  Christ,"  "Pauline  Epistles,"  "New 
Testament  Pedagogy."  All  who  enroll  should  be  required  to  take 
one  course  in  Bible  study. 

Repetition  of  the  courses  could  be  made  every  year  or  so,  be- 
cause of  new  ones  enrolling.  A-dvanced  Bible  classes  could  be 
offered  in  personal  work,  evangelism,  plans,  and  methods  of  Jesus, 
etc.  All  courses  offered  in  the  Bible  should  be  given  with  a  view 
of  carrying  on  the  work  all  the  year.  Make  the  summer  training 
school  a  permanent  asset  in  this  way.  This  would  be  a  new  field 
that  the  Seminary  could  develop  through  the  extension  department, 
or  let  the  teachers  of  the  courses  suggest  a  manual  for  a  course 
which  will  extend  through  the  year. 

INSTITUTE   WORK 

Another  feature  of  the  summer  training  school  will  be  the 
institute  work.     This  is  the  technical  part  of  the  summer  school. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  183 

This  work  will  cover  all  lines  of  church  activity  not  covered  in  the 
work  of  the  study  classes  mentioned  above.  Under  competent  lead- 
ers this  hour  may  mean  more  than  any  other.  Methods  and  plans 
will  be  presented  at  this  time. 

The  rest  of  the  curriculum  will  be  indicated  in  the  following 
schedule,  which  is  only  suggestive. 

7:0(^-7:30     Breakfast. 

7 :  30—8 :  00     Chapel,  devotional. 

8:00—8:50     Bible  classes. 

8 :  50 — 9 :  40     Study  classes   of   books  on  different  phases  of 
church  activitv. 

9 :  40-10 :  00     Recess. 
10 :  00-10 :  50     Institute  work. 
10 :  50-1 1 :  50     Inspirational  address. 
12 :  00  Luncheon. 

1 :  15 — 2  :  00     Business  and  committee  meetings. 

2 :  00 — 6 :  00     Rest,  recreation,  study,  etc. 

6:00—6:30     Dinner. 

7 :  30 — 8 :  00     Chorus  or  orchestra. 

8:00—9:00     Address. 

9:15  All  lights  out. 

On  Sunday  regular  services  should  be  held. 

If  the  schedule  is  more  extensive  than  that,  the  students  will 
go  home  tired  and  the  import  of  the  conference  will  be  thwarted. 

LENGTH    OF    TERM    OF    SUMMER    TRAINING    SCHOOL 

The  number  of  days  the  conference  is  to  be  held  will  have  to 
be  governed  by  the  different  conferences  themselves.  From  seven 
to  ten  days  seem  about  right,  preferably  ten  days.  It  may  begin 
on  Tuesday  morning  and  hold  over  till  the  next  Thursday  night. 
The  location  cannot  be  determined.  We  should  not  have  more  than 
one  for  each  Bishop's  district,  perhaps,  to  be  held  as  near  as  pos- 
sible to  the  center  of  the  district,  numerically  and  geographically. 
Let  them  be  held  in  some  good  Chautauqua  park  or  in  any  good 
park,  or  in  any  city  or  town  where  we  can  have  electric  lights, 
water,  auditorium,  tenting  space,  mess  hall,  and  other  conveniences. 
The  location  might  be  shifted  from  time  to  time,  as  cities  would 
bid  for  it  and  pay  for  the  privilege  of  it ;  commercial  clubs  offer  as 


184  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

high  as  twelve  hundred  dollars.  That  fact  will  go  a  long  way 
when  any  attempt  is  made  to  finance  the  project. 

If  the  Church  regards  the  summer  training  school  as  a  wise 
project,  let  each  Bishop  appoint  a  committee  from  his  several  con- 
ferences. This  committee  may  determine  the  time  of  the  school, 
location,  and  schedule.  It  should  appoint  other  committees  on  fac- 
ulty, publicity,  finance,  entertainment,  tents,  bedding,  etc. 

The  Finance  Committee  will  have  the  big  end  of  the  task. 
The  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  in  its  summer  schools,  charges  a  registration  fee 
and  tuition,  and  yet  there  is  a  deficit  every  year,  which  is  made  up 
by  men  who  believe  the  summer  school  is  the  one  institution  that 
they  cannot  do  without.  The  expenses  of  the  faculty  is  no  small 
item,  even  if  the  school  pays  only  for  their  actual  expenses.  An- 
other item  of  expense  that  it  seems  necessary  to  solve  is  that  of  the 
equalization  of  railroad  fare.  It  hardly  seems  a  fair  proposition  for 
a  man  who  lives,  say  four  hundred  miles  from  the  place  of  the 
school,  to  have  to  pay  his  railroad  fare  and  all  the  other  expenses, 
and  another  man  who  lives,  say  fifty  miles  away,  to  pay  no  more 
than  his  fare.  Both  get  the  same  privilege,  and  perhaps  the  one 
the  farthest  away  needs  the  fellowship  and  inspiration  and  knowl- 
edge as  much  as  the  other  man.  Your  fertile  minds  may  have  a 
solution  at  hand.  The  following  are  only  suggestive.  1.  Let  the 
commercial  clubs  of  the  cities  bid  for  the  training  school.  They 
want  the  revenue  that  comes  from  a  gathering  like  that.  2.  Have 
one  or  two  high-class  entertainments  in  the  evening.  3.  Have  the 
different  organizations  that  are  co-operating  with  the  school, 
namely,  the  local  church,  its  Sunday  school,  Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.,  Brother- 
hood, W.  M.  A.,  Otterbein  Guild,  etc.,  pay  a  certain  amount  to  de- 
fray the  expenses  as  indicated  above.  4.  Let  each  local  organiza- 
tion pay  its  own  delegates'  expenses.  Maybe  all  these  methods  can 
be  combined.  Each  delegate  should  pay  for  his  own  board,  tent, 
cot,  registration,  and  tuition,  if  you  charge  any,  and  his  car  fare 
up  to  one  hundred  miles,  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  It  seems 
some  method  may  be  devised  to  finance  the  project.  So  much  for 
plans  and  methods.  If  it  will  prove  as  great  an  asset  to  the  church 
as  it  has  to  the  Y.  M.  C,  A.,  then  it  is  imperative  that  we  have  these 
schools. 


THE  PROBLEM  AND  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE 
COUNTRY  CHURCH 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH 

BY  C.   WHITNEY 

We  are  to  think  together  on  the  importance  of  the  country 
church.  There  would  be  nothing  improper  in  giving  passing  atten- 
tion to  the  importance  of  our  country,  for  the  church  and  country 
are  interdependent,  but  time  forbids.  The  extremes  both  of  popula- 
tion and  in  church  privileges  deserve  special  attention,  however. 

In  the  State  of  Illinois,  during  the  period  between  1900  and 
1910,  1,113  townships  lost  in  population.  This  is  in  strange  con- 
trast with  what  a  friend  in  eastern  Montana  said,  "When  I  moved 
here,  two  years  ago,  there  were  nine  voters  in  this  precinct,  and  now 
there  are  148."  Marshall  County,  Indiana,  is  represented  by 
churches  of  twenty-nine  different  denominations,  three  adjoining 
townships  having  twenty-one.  A  letter  came  to  our  office  from  a 
member  of  the  United  Brethren  Church,  who  had  moved  into  eastern 
Washington,  asking  for  help.  He  was  living  in  a  district  larger 
than  the  State  of  Connecticut  without  a  Protestant  church  or  Sun- 
day school.  These  extreme  conditions  are  worthy  of  our  special 
consideration.  I  can  mention  only  the  general  features  of  impor- 
tance of  the  country  church. 

The  country  church  is  important  because  of  number.  There 
are  eighty  thousand  churches  in  the  villages  and  open  country  in 
the  United  States.  As  a  denomination,  we  are  pre-eminently  rural. 
We  are  not  located  in  any  city  in  the  United  States  in  anything  like 
an  adequate  way,  outside  of  Dayton,  Ohio.  At  a  conservative  esti- 
mate, ninety-three  per  cent,  of  our  membership  is  in  the  country. 
This  makes  it  decidedly  important  that  we  foster  the  country  church. 

The  country  church  is  important  in  producing  Christian  leader- 
ship in  both  church  and  state.    The  struggle  to  subdue  nature  de- 

185 


186  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

velops  confidence  and  leadership.  The  harder  the  struggle,  the 
greater  the  development.  Josiah  Strong  has  said,  *'No  country, 
where  a  man  can  get  his  dinner  by  climbing  a  tree,  ever  produced  a 
great  civilization."  As  a  Church  we  produce  more  preachers  in  the 
mountains  of  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  and  the  hill  country  of 
southern  Ohio  and  Indiana  than  in  the  rich  prairies  north  and  west 
of  these  sections.  In  the  providence  of  God  there  is  an  influence 
for  development  in  the  towering  hill,  the  grassy  meadow,  the  gurg- 
ling brook,  and  the  low  of  the  cattle  that  the  country  boy  has  which 
his  cousin  in  the  city  is  deprived  of.  The  city  boy's  towering  hill 
is  the  skyscraper,  the  paved  street  is  his  meadow,  the  gurgling 
brook  is  the  water  in  the  gutter,  and  the  low  of  the  cattle  is  the 
honk,  honk,  honk  of  the  automobile  ordering  him  out  of  the  way. 
The  church  of  the  country  is  all-important  to  develop  Godward  the 
boy  or  girl  that  is  living  close  to  nature. 

The  church  in   the  country  is   important  in  a  financial  way. 
Property  values  are  established  by  the  degree  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion in  any  locality.     The  western  real  estate  agent,  especially  in 
the  irrigated  country,  will  particularly  impress  upon  you  that 
"Little  drops  of  water 
On  the  grains  of  sand, 
Make  a  mighty  difference 
In  the  price  of  land." 
But  he  may  fail  to  tell  you  of  the  Christian  church  that  makes  a 
great  deal  more  difference. 

About  fifty  years  ago,  William  Duncan  landed  among  can- 
nibals on  the  shores  of  Alaska.  There  was  but  little  value  in  land 
or  anything  found  there  at  that  time.  Now,  in  the  village  of  Met- 
lakahtla,  every  Indian  family  lives  in  their  own  frame  house ;  they 
have  their  co-operative  store,  bank,  sawmill,  box  factory ;  they 
make  their  own  cans  for  their  salmon  canning  factory,  and  own 
ships,  tugs,  and  launches.  They  have  a  church  with  a  great  audi- 
torium, and  instead  of  pounding  a  medicine  drum,  as  they  were  fifty 
years  ago,  they  are  now  playing  the  pipe  organ.  Values  have 
changed  because  of  the  introduction  of  the  Christian  church. 

In  the  office  of  the  president  of  one  of  the  great  trunk  line 
railroads  of  this  country,  the  secretary  said  to  me,  'Tf  you  are  do- 
ing this  kind  of  work,"  referring  to  our  home  mission  effort,  "we 
ought  to  help  you  out,"  but  he  instantly  said,  *T  want  you  to  under- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  187 

stand  that  we  are  not  a  benevolent  institution ;  it  is  purely  a  matter 
of  business."  That  company  had  learned  that  the  introduction  of 
the  Christian  church  produced  values.  Away  to  the  southwest 
there  is  an  imaginary  line  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States ; 
land  on  one  side  of  that  line  will  bring  more  in  the  market  than  on 
the  other.  Why?  There  has  been  a  Catholic  civilization  on  the 
Mexican  side  for  nearly  four  hundred  years,  and  a  partial  Prot- 
estant civilization  on  the  north  side  of  the  line  since  the  middle  of 
the  last  century. 

The  country  church  is  all-important  as  a  community  center. 
The  great  hindrance  of  country  life  is  its  isolation.  God  has  created 
us  as  social  beings.  It  is  possible  for  us  to  starve  that  part  of  our 
nature  to  death.  A  sad  illustration  of  the  consequence  of  this  is 
found  among  the  Scandinavians  of  North  and  South  Dakota.  They 
were  farmers  in  their  native  country,  where  they  work  their  land  in 
the  open  country,  but  lodge  at  night  in  the  hamlets  and  villages,  and 
thus  cultivate  their  social  natures.  When  they  moved  to  America 
and  became  isolated  on  their  prairie  home,  the  wives  and  mothers 
became  so  homesick  that  an  alarming  percentage  of  them  have  gone 
insane. 

The  country  church  can  never  fulfill  its  highest  mission  until  it 
becomes  the  center  of  attraction  for  the  community  in  which  it  is 
located.  One  reason  the  brightest  and  best  of  our  young  men  and 
women  leave  the  country  and  go  to  the  city  is  because  of  the  soul- 
hunger  for  companionship.  The  lure  of  the  city  with  its  social 
entanglements  catches  them.  The  country  church  that  has  nothing 
but  its  regular  services,  which  consists  of  Sunday  school,  preaching, 
and  prayer-meeting,  its  only  variation  being  an  occasional  funeral, 
will  shortly  need  some  one  to  preach  its  funeral.  Why  should  not 
the  church  become  the  center  of  everything  that  is  elevating  and  that 
goes  to  make  up  Christian  civilization? 

It  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  take  young  life  when  most 
susceptible,  before  it  is  morally  diseased,  and  start  it  going  right. 
The  country  church  does  not  have  to  compete  in  the  social  world  as 
does  the  city  church,  and  therefore  has  a  better  opportunity  to  lead 
in  the  social  relation. 

The  church  of  the  country  is  pre-eminently  important  as  a 
feeder  for  the  city  church.  It  is  not  uncommon  in  the  city  churches 
to  find  that  from  eighty  per  cent,  to  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  its  mem- 


188  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

bership  were  born  and  reared  in  the  country.  None  of  us  will  deny 
that  the  battle  of  Christianity  must  be  fought  out  in  the  great  cit- 
ies of  America,  cities  from  twenty-five  thousand  inhabitants  up.  It 
is  found  that  a  little  less  than  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  membership 
of  the  Protestant  Church  are  found  in  these  cities,  and  fifty-two 
per  cent,  of  the  membership  of  the  Catholic  Church  are  found  there. 
But  what  would  the  city  church  do  without  the  country  church  as 
a  base  of  supply  ?    Where  were  the  city  preachers  born  and  reared  ? 

With  your  consent,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  should  be  glad  to  learn 
what  portion  of  this  Congress  were  born  and  reared  or  received 
their  early  training  in  the  country.  Now,  do  not  be  afraid  to  stand 
up,  for  all  these  Bishops  are  nothing  but  country- jakes;  every  one 
of  the  general  officers,  as  far  as  I  know,  was  born  and  reared  in 
the  country;  the  pastors  of  our  sixteen  churches  in  this  city  are 
from  the  country.  This  may  be  a  little  embarrassing  to  some  of 
these  preachers'  sons  that  I  see  before  me.  We  all  know  that  you 
were  born  where  it  happened  and  brought  up  in  spots,  but  the  most 
of  you  received  your  training  in  the  country  or  the  country  village. 
[The  speaker  called  for  all  who  were  country-bred  to  stand,  and  the 
great  Congress  of  about  six  hundred  men  arose  en  masse.  There 
seemed  to  be  not  more  than  thirty  in  all  parts  of  the  church  who 
remained  seated.] 

But  most  important  of  all,  the  church  is  the  only  institution 
that  can  save  the  country.  Schools  are  products  of  our  Christian 
civilization,  but  they  cannot  save  us.  This  morning  there  came  to 
our  office  a  letter  from  the  chaplain  of  the  State  Reformatory  at 
Mansfield,  Ohio,  saying,  "In  the  last  five  years  I  have  interviewed 
about  thirty-one  hundred  inmates,  and  I  found  not  more  than  a 
dozen  that  could  not  write  their  name."  Culture  cannot  cancel  sin. 
Science  cannot  remove  iniquity.  We  are  told  by  some  that  sin  is 
a  disease  subject  to  surgical  treatment;  that  is,  if  a  boy  is  uncom- 
monly devilish,  he  needs  a  surgical  operation  on  his  brain.  We 
would  not  stand  in  the  way  of  science,  but  we  believe  that  the  bet- 
ter operation  is  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  heart,  as  taught  by 
the  Christian  church.  We  would  not  oppose  the  "Keeley  cure"  for 
drunkenness,  but  we  have  more  confidence  in  the  Calvary  cure.  In 
short,  it  is  the  business  of  the  church  to  get  religion  into  the  com- 
munity and  through  the  community  into  the  world. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  l89 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  A 
DENOMINATIONAL  STRATEGY 

BY    O.    D.    VVELLBAUM 

When  we  consider  the  fact  that  three-fourths  of  our  con- 
stituency as  a  denomination  is  in  the  country,  and  that  the  latest 
movements  are  toward  the  development  of  the  country  church, 
we  ask,  ''Why  should  not  the  United  Brethren  Church,  with  its 
splendid  devotional  life,  be  the  leader  in  this  movement  toward 
the  enrichment  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  country  communities?" 
From  these  we  have  secured  our  denominational  leaders  in  the  past, 
and  from  these  we  will  continue  to  get  those  who  are  to  carry  forth 
our  denominational  activities. 

Since  we  have  so  much  of  our  constituency  in  the  country,  it 
is  of  supreme  importance  that  we  concentrate  on  the  development 
of  this  constituency  to  its  highest  efficiency,  which,  in  many  cases, 
would  secure  to  our  denomination  such  resources  in  the  way  of 
leadership  and  money  that  we  could  enter  as  we  should  the  larger 
towns  and  cities. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  has  well  said,  'Tn  the  last  analysis,  the  man 
on  the  farm  is  the  man  upon  whom  our  whole  civilization  rests. 
The  growth  and  progress  of  the  country  depends  upon  him." 

THE  COMMUNITY   A   SOURCE   OF   SUPPLY 

I  have  been  asked  if  it  did  not  grieve  me  to  see  my  young 
men  and  young  women  leave  and  go  to  the  city  just  at  the  time 
they  were  best  prepared  to  render  efficient  service  in  the  church? 
No,  I  do  not  grieve ;  rather  I  rejoice  that  I  can  assist  in  contributing 
leaders  to  bless  the  world.  A  mother  does  not  feel  that  her  sphere 
is  narrow  or  that  her  work  is  in  vain  when  she  rears  noble  sons 
and  daughters  for  her  country. 

The  contribution  of  the  country  minister  to  the  industrial, 
social,  and  civic  betterment  of  the  world  is  incalculable.  It  is  the 
supreme  prerogative  of  the  country  minister  and  the  rural  church 
to  shape  the  early  lives  of  Presidents,  statesmen,  preachers,  teach- 
ers, missionaries,  and  business  men,  and  to  conserve  the  physical 
strength  and  morals  and  intellectual  vigor  of  the  whole  human  race 
by  leading  the  country  people  in  truth  and  righteousness. 


190  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

The  most  strategic  point  in  our  denomination  is  the  source  of 
supply,  namely,  the  rural  church.  If  we  win  the  battle  which  is 
represented  here,  our  denomination  can  endure  great  losses  in  other 
realms  and  yet  come  off  victorious ;  lose  this  conquest,  however,  and 
win  all  the  rest,  and  final  defeat  is  inevitable. 

At  present,  conditions  in  the  country  reveal  to  us  the  fact  that 
we  are  not  winning  the  battle  at  the  source  of  supply.  Hardly 
more  than  one-fourth  of  the  churches  in  the  open  country,  and  two- 
fifths  of  the  village  churches  which  minister  to  the  open  country, 
are  growing  either  in  numbers  or  efficiency.  A  large  proportion 
are  steadily  declining.  Every  year  scores  of  country  churches  are 
abandoned;  800  in  Ohio,  1,700  in  Illinois,  750  in  Missouri,  and  so 
the  list  reads.  The  country  churches  which  are  really  eminent  for 
success  are  very  few. 

Why  is  not  the  country  church  growing?  The  difficulty  seems 
to  arise  in  the  main  from  one  condition,  namely,  the  country  church 
is  facing  a  new  situation  which  has  arisen  within  two  decades,  and 
which  has  changed  the  problem  and  hence  the  task  of  the  church, 
both  in  form  and  in  content.  This  has  rendered  the  old  methods 
of  church  work  inadequate  and  has  put  a  new  aspect  on  the  prob- 
lem of  maintenance  and  has  made  for  the  church  a  new  test  of 
success.  The  type  of  church  which  satisfied  the  needs  of  the  com- 
munity fifty  years  ago  is  no  more  sufficient  for  our  changed  needs 
than  is  the  type  of  farm  implement  then  in  use  or  the  type  of  rural 
school. 

The  country  church  of  to-day  shows  a  weakness  in  the  lack  of 
an  adequate  resident  leadership.  It  is  not  only  that  there  is  a 
great  dearth  of  men  properly  trained  and  equipped  for  ministry  in 
a  rural  parish,  but  even  more,  there  is  a  dearth  of  men  of  any  sort. 

ABSENT   TREATMENT 

Country  churches  are  suffering  from  an  extended  experiment 
in  absent  treatment. 

The  circuit  rider  built  most  of  these  churches;  built  them  by 
splendid  consecration  and  untiring  service;  but  he  worked  under 
entirely  different  circumstances  and  owed  his  success  to  conditions 
which  no  longer  exist  in  the  country.  He  lived  with  the  farmers. 
The  modern  minister  is  a  town  man ;  the  churches  which  the  cir- 
cuit rider  built,  the  absentee  can  no  longer  maintain.    In  Ohio  only 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  191 

six  open  country  churches  in  every  one  hundred  have  resident  pas- 
tors serving  them  full  time. 

Only  a  resident  minister  can  have  that  minute  and  sympathetic 
knowledge  of  the  local  parish  which  is  the  first  requisite  of  a  suc- 
cessful ministry.  Without  it  the  peculiar  needs  of  the  church  and 
community  are  to  him  a  closed  book.  The  resident  minister  holds 
the  key  to  the  situation  and  the  future  of  the  country  church  rests 
with  him. 

SOME    THINGS    TO    BE    DONE 

In  order  to  secure  this  resident  leadership,  the  religious  forces 
of  the  community  must  be  co-ordinated  to  a  large  extent.  The 
religious  forces  of  the  country  are  ineffectual  because  they  are  scat- 
tered. The  small  church,  as  a  rule,  is  not  an  efficient  working  unit. 
The  great  overmultiplication  of  small  churches  can  mean  nothing 
more  than  widespread  inefficiency.  As  a  result,  the  small  church  is 
inwardly  a  dying  proposition. 

The  average  country  church  has  too  narrow  a  field  of  interests 
and  work.  '*He  that  saveth  his  life  shall  loose  it,"  is  as  true  of 
a  church  as  of  an  individual.  The  energies  of  most  rural  churches 
are  expended  largely  in  the  efforts  to  perpetuate  their  own  organ- 
ization.    Their  work  ends  where  it  begins. 

The  successful  country  church,  as  a  rule,  devotes  itself  to 
everything  of  fundamental  importance  to  the  community.  A  coun- 
try church,  if  it  is  to  survive  and  grow,  must  do  this.  It  must  per- 
mit nothing  good  in  the  community  to  be  without  its  sanction  and 
influence,  and  nothing  evil  to  be  without  its  protest  and  resistance. 

The  promotion  of  musical  culture,  sanitation,  recreation,  and 
the  condemnation  of  reckless  and  wasteful  farming  may  well  lie 
among  the  country  church's  projects.  To  give  the  church  a  united 
front,  a  resident  leadership  and  a  broad,  adequate  program  will  go 
far  toward  equipping  it  to  maintain  itself  through  change  and 
transition  and  to  maintain  a  vital  religion  in  the  country. 

The  country  church  should  recognize  the  need  of  co-operation 
and  organization,  and  should  be  the  fostering  agent  in  the  reorgan- 
ization of  the  community.  The  time  has  arrived  when  the  rural 
church  must  take  a  larger  leadership  both  as  an  institution  and 
through  its  pastors  in  the  social  reorganization  of  rural  life,  or  we 
cannot  conserve  our  resources  sufficiently  to  maintain  our  position 


192  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

as  a  denomination  in  the  advance  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and 
Savior,  Jesus  Christ. 


LEADERSHIP  FOR  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH— HOW 

SECURE  IT 

BY  W.  E.   SNYDER 

That  efficient  leadership  is  essential  to  any  church,  whether  in 
city  or  country,  goes  w^ithout  argument.  This  leadership  must  be 
twofold— that  of  the  pulpit  and  of  the  pew.  The  latter,  however, 
will  be  conditioned  by  the  former.  That  is  to  say,  efficient  clerical 
leadership  will  develop  leadership  in  the  laity.  Hence,  the  rural 
church,  to  meet  the  demands  that  are  upon  it,  must  have  a  com- 
petent leadership,  first  of  all,  in  its  ministry. 

What  elements  are  essential  in  a  thorough  equipment  for  rural 
leadership  ?  A  serious  mistake  has  been  made  in  assuming  that  the 
demands  are  less  exacting  in  a  country  pastorate  than  in  the  city. 
The  rural  church  too  often  has  been  dealt  with  on  this  assumption. 
Result,  rural  disintegration,  and,  hence,  the  rural  church  problem. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  country  parson  must  have  the  qualities  of 
mind  and  heart  that  are  fundamental  to  the  ministry  in  general. 
He  dare  not  be  less  a  man  because  his  is  a  country  parish.  The 
open  country  is  the  soil  which  produces  the  strongest  elements  of 
manhood  and  womanhood.  The  environment  it  affords  is  suggestive 
of  expansion ;  and  suggestion  is  a  mighty  factor  in  the  building  of  a 
life.  In  the  wholesome  atmosphere  of  God's  great  out-of-doors, 
piety,  energy,  orthodoxy,  and  scholarship  are  at  a  premium.  The 
person  who  lacks  these  fundamentals  will  find  himself  at  an  awful 
discount.  He  may  be  tolerated  by  the  grace  of  a  forbearing  people, 
but  that  is  quite  a  different  thing  from  being  a  leader.  The  true 
leader  must  be  an  object  of  respect  and  honor,  and  not  of  mercy 
and  toleration.  He  must  grip  the  people  by  the  power  of  his  per- 
sonality, compel  their  confidence,  inspire  vision,  hope,  and  optimism, 
and  push  forward  to  definite  and  worthy  goals  of  actual  achieve- 
ment. 

SYMPATHY    WITH    RURAL   LIFE 

The  rural  leader,  to  enter  into  a  sympathetic  contact  with  his 
people,  must  have  a  practical  knowledge  of,  and  a  genuine  sym- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  193 

pathy  with  rural  life.  He  must  have  faith  in  the  possibiHties  of  his 
field,  with  engineering  skill  plus  patience  and  perseverance  in  order 
to  realize  these  possibilities.  In  a  word,  he  must  enter  into  the  life 
of  his  people — possess  the  rural  spirit.  Otherwise  he  may  well  say, 
as  Moses  did  when  called  to  rescue  his  brethren,  "Behold  they  will 
not  believe  me,  nor  hearken  unto  my  voice ;  for  they  will  say,  The 
Lord  hath  not  appeared  unto  thee." 

Furthermore,  he  ought  to  feel  that  he  has  a  divine  call  to  rural 
leadership,  and  that  the  country  is  his  field.  Seldom  has  this  been 
the  case.  The  country  pastorate  has  been  regarded  largely  as  an 
apprenticeship  for  the  person  aspiring  to  bigger  things,  or  to  use  a 
different  figure,  it  is  a  sort  of  experiment  station,  running  all  the 
risks  of  ministerial  failure,  but  reaping  little  or  no  benefit  from 
the  results  of  the  experiments.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  there  is  occa- 
sion to  be  concerned  about  the  decadence  of  the  rural  church  ?  To 
be  a  leader  one  must  be  a  permanent  element  in  the  community  life, 
and  not  simply  a  bird  of  passage,  tarrying  for  a  brief  period  to 
gather  a  few  sweets,  to  sing  a  few  songs,  and  then  to  go  on  to  a 
more  congenial  clime. 

But  how  to  supply  this  great  need  is  the  vital  question.  We 
are  not  to  infer  that  the  rural  church  does  not  produce  leaders,  for 
quite  the  contrary  is  true.  But  the  demands  for  the  country 
product  elsewhere  keeps  the  rural  church  depleted  of  its  strongest 
elements.  The  successful  man  finds  so  many  open  doors  to  city 
pastorates,  or  to  general  forms  of  denominational  or  interdenom- 
inational work  where  the  field  at  least  seems  to  be  more  inviting. 
Hence,  we  find  a  continual  exodus  from  the  rural  districts  to  these 
lands  of  promise. 

THE  CALL  OF  THE  COUNTRY 

We,  of  course,  cannot,  we  would  not,  close  these  doors  that  are 
open  to  worthy  men.  We  would  not  hush  the  calls  that  come  to 
their  ears,  or  close  their  ears  to  the  calls.  We  would  not  quench 
the  fire  of  a  worthy  ambition  that  burns  in  every  noble  breast.  We 
cannot  by  any  arbitrary  limits  define  a  man's  field.  But  is  there 
not  a  call  that  comes  from  the  open  country?  May  not  something 
be  done  to  enable  men  to  hear  and  constrain  them  to  heed  this  call  ? 
I  believe  something  can  be  done.  It  may  not  be  easy.  Then  again, 
it  may  not  be  as  difficult  as  we  think.    We  should  face  the  difficulty 


194  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

with  faith  and  earnestness,  and  that  is  one  step  toward  overcoming 
it.    There  are  some  things  at  least  that  can  be  done. 

ELIMINATE  SNOBBERY 

We  can  do  much  to  ehminate  the  snobbery  that  has  created  a 
gulf  between  country  and  city,  between  the  country  church  and  the 
city  church.  There  is  a  false  pride  that  leads  men  to  prefer  living 
from  hand  to  mouth  in  a  large  city,  to  serving  a  rural  charge  afford- 
ing a  comfortable  support.  The  country  indicates  a  lower  rating 
in  the  profession ;  it  lacks  the  dignity  and  prestige  of  a  St.  John's, 
a  Trinity,  or  a  Centenary.  Its  salary  is  not  so  large,  even  though 
it  be  far  more  adequate.  Thus  have  the  artificial  values  of  life 
entered  into  the  most  sacred  of  callings — into  the  very  realm  where 
the  false  and  the  artificial,  where  indeed  all  snobbery  ought  to  be 
completely  annihilated. 

If  one  is  looking  for  a  big  job  he  will  find  it  in  the  country 
parish.  Here  is  work  for  a  constructive  genius,  an  unlimited  field 
for  the  exercise  of  one's  talents,  a  challenge  to  generalship.  Here 
is  a  field  for  service  that  has  a  vital  relation  to  the  religious,  edu- 
cational, social,  and  political  life  of  the  whole  nation.  Life  invest- 
ment here  will  have  a  permanent  and  increasing  value  to  the  kipg- 
dom  of  Christ.  The  country  church  is  doing  as  much  for  the  city 
as  the  city  church  itself.  It  is  giving  to  the  city  church  much  of  its 
virtue  it  possesses  as  a  regenerating  agency.  It  is  furnishing  it  its 
leadership,  the  good,  rich  blood  which  gives  it  spiritual  vitality,  the 
faith  and  fervor  without  which  it  would  soon  become  an  effete  or- 
ganization. Many  a  city  pastor  will  confess  that  without  the 
vigorous  life  that  comes  into  his  church  from  the  country,  it  soon 
would  be  overcome  by  the  city's  restless,  worldly,  commercial  life. 
Should  not  this  appeal  to  the  person  who  wishes  to  invest  his  life 
where  it  will  bring  satisfactory  returns?  If  the  Church  can  do 
nothing  more,  it  can  point  out  to  ambitious  young  men  and  women 
these  opportunities.  It  can  hold  before  their  minds  such  ideals  of 
service  as  will  cause  them  to  turn  voluntarily  to  these  fields  of 
need  and  promise ;  it  can  help  them  to  hear  these  calls  and  so  break 
down  the  arbitrary  distinctions  and  barriers  that  have  so  much  to 
do  with  turning  strong  men  away  from  the  very  fields  in  which 
they  are  so  much  needed. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  195 

Can  we  not  appeal  to  our  church  schools  for  help  in  this  mat- 
ter? I  fear  our  educational  work  has  been  carried  on  too  much 
from  the  city  standpoint.  To  find  a  college  or  seminary  graduate 
serving  a  rural  charge  ordinarily  is  to  excite  surprise.  Special 
training  is  supposed  to  prepare  a  man  for  work  in  the  city.  If  he 
has  no  aspirations  to  fill  a  position  in  the  city,  it  is  a  waste  of  time 
to  spend  from  four  to  seven  years  in  the  institutions  of  learning. 
The  idea  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  occasionally  a  person  goes 
from  the  schools  to  a  rural  pastorate  only  to  find  himself  a  misfit. 
No  doubt  there  is  foundation  for  the  suspicion  that  colleges  and 
seminaries  educate  folks  away  from  the  country.  The  schools  must 
change  this.  An  eminent  authority  writing  on  this  phase  of  the 
subject  has  this  to  say :  ''Young  men  and  women  who  feel  specially 
called  to  Christian  service  in  the  open  country  must  be  definitely 
trained  in  schools  that  place  special  emphasis  upon  rural  science, 
or  in  colleges  whose  curricula  have  been  broadened  to  include 
courses  in  rural  sociology  and  religious  social  engineering,  and 
they  must  be  urged  to  volunteer  for  service  in  the  rural  field  as  in 
any  other  fields  of  missionary  enterprise."  What  we  want  is  that 
some  of  these  young  people  who  go  from  the  country  to  the  colleges 
shall  come  back  to  invest  their  enlarged  powers  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  possibilities  of  the  rural  community,  not  merely  the 
financial  possibilities,  but  its  social  and  religious  possibilities ;  in  a 
word,  its  life.  We  need  them  for  pastors,  teachers  in  public  and 
Bible  schools,  for  leaders  in  all  Hues  of  activity  for  the  regener- 
ation and  development  of  our  rural  population. 


HOW  TO  BRING  THE  LOCAL  CHURCH  TO  ITS 

BEST 


THE  LOCAL  CHURCH  A  POWER  IN  EVANGELISM 

BY   IRA   A.    HOLBROOK 

It  has  been  the  sad  lament  of  this  Congress  that  one-sixth  of 
our  churches  have  been  entirely  destitute,  and  another  sixth  well 
nigh  so,  for  twelve  months,  in  the  matter  of  soul  winning.  What- 
ever else  they  have  done,  they  seem  to  have  lost  or  to  have  mislaid 
the  latter  part  of  the  great  commission — "Beginning  at  Jerusalem" 
— at  home. 

Without  discussion  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  evangelistic  note 
here  struck  is  not  some  new  fad,  some  strange,  weird,  or  magical 
innovation,  but  the  old-time  gospel  which  has  civilized  the  savage, 
sobered  the  drunkard,  cleansed  the  filthy  and  the  profane,  and 
made  our  parents  rejoice  at  the  presence  of  death,  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  a  hfe  "hid  with  Christ  in  God." 

No  church  and  no  minister  can  be  a  power  in  evangelism  who 
looses,  or  neglects,  or  disbelieves  in,  the  great  commission — to 
evangelize  all  nations,  beginning  at  home.  It  is  this  concept  that 
our  work  lies  next  us,  before  it  lies  elsewhere,  which  must  kindle 
our  zeal  and  encourage  endeavor.  We  must  not  allow  our  glasses 
to  be  blurred  with  other  visions,  nor  ground  our  wires  in  other 
purposes.  There  is  little  of  the  meteoric  gleam  and  rosy  theory  in 
what  I  shall  say,  but  not  a  little  of  history. 

This  is  a  period  of  special  evangehsts  and  God  has  called  some 
to  be  "evangelists,"  but  that  cannot  mean  that  certain  men  carry 
revivals  in  their  pockets.  The  church  has  need  of  such  leadership, 
but  an  evangelist  without  a  church  would  be  much  as  a  general 
without  an  army. 

1.  To  have  an  effective  church,  you  must  have  an  effective 
ministry.  Preachers — not  some  sort  of  preachers,  not  any  sort  of 
preachers,  but  God-called  men — who  know  God  and  who  know  the 

196 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  197 

transforming  power  of  the  gospel,  who  know  the  malady  of  sin  and 
do  not  fear  to  apply  the  remedy. 

The  time  is  passed  when  the  minister  is  to  apologize  for  the 
gospel;  he  is  to  preach  it;  and  the  gospel  is  the  power  of  God 
unto  saving.  But  he  is  also  to  be  the  gospel  which  he  preaches,  to 
live  it. 

2.  But  to  have  a  winning  church  you  must  have  a  converted, 
regenerated  church,  who,  for  six  days  of  the  week,  go  about  to 
practice  the  message  of  the  minister,  men  and  women  who  are  living 
epistles  known  and  read  of  all  men,  men  of  whom  the  world  takes 
knowledge  that  they  have  been  with  Jesus,  for  we  are  not  to  en- 
force the  gospel  by  force,  but  by  a  holy  example.  You  need  a 
church  like  a  compound  magnet. 

3.  The  church  which  is  to  be  effective  in  soul  winning  must 
have  an  effective  Sunday  school,  because  the  plastic  period  is  during 
''Sunday-school  age,"  as  commonly  attended.  The  teacher  must  be 
a  Christian  and  must  know  the  lesson  and  the  student. 

But  the  teacher  must  press  more  than  the  historic  facts  of 
the  lesson,  there  must  come  upon  these  the  breath  of  prayer  and 
they  be  vitalized  and  applied  to  the  persons  in  hand.  It  should  be 
no  uncommon  thing  to  have  life  decisions  in  the  Sunday  school, 
especially  where  properly  equipped.     Illiisiratel 

4.  The  winning  church  must  have  a  Young  People's  Society, 
but  this  cannot  be  made  an  institution  of  flirtation,  a  child's  play- 
house, nor  a  reading  circle  for  newspaper  clippings.  There  must 
come  full  into  view  the  divine  presence,  and  the  divine  commission, 
"for  others,"  should  be  made  voiceful  in  each  heart.  The  lesson 
should  close  with  a  ringing  appeal  to  action — inquiry  for  salva- 
tion, or  consecration  for  service.  And  this  should  not  be  the  excep- 
tion, but  the  rule.    Illustrate! 

5.  The  soul-saving  church  has  a  prayer-meeting  and  somebody 
comes.  This  service  is  exactly  what  it  indicates — a  pray  meeting, 
not  a  sing  meeting,  not  a  talk  meeting,  not  a  Bible  reference  meet- 
ing, but  a  meeting  of  prayer  and  of  thanksgiving,  of  petition  and 
intercession.  This  must  be  pre-eminent.  Of  course,  confession,  wit- 
ness, and  experience  may  play  helpful  parts.  And  here,  also,  con- 
versions should  not  be  unknown  for  long  at  a  time. 

But  these  regular  and  ordinary  means  and  occurrences  should 
be  supplemented  with  the  old-time  revival  at  frequent  intervals,  in 


198  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

which  prayer  and  fasting,  personal  exhortation  and  urgent  preach- 
ing shall  ultimate  in  open  confessions  for  Jesus  Christ. 

In  short,  the  winning  church  must  have  a  preacher  with  a  mes- 
sage, a  consecrated  membership  with  a  vision,  sinners  conscious  of 
their  need,  and  a  loving,  giving,  forgiving  Qirist. 


THE  GOSPEL  TEAM  WORK  IN  EVANGELISM 

BY  GEORGE   E.    MOODY 

What  is  the  "Gospel  Team  Movement"?  It  is  the  product  of 
the  newer  emphasis  on  evangelism.  I  believe  it  to  be  the  outgrowth 
of  that  movement  which  so  richly  blessed  the  men  of  our  churches 
some  two  years  ago — the  Men  and  Religion  Movement. 

It  was  on  a  Sunday  afternoon  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  in  Wichita,  Kansas,  amid  the  enthusiasm  of  the  coming 
eight-day  campaign  of  the  Men  and  Religion  Movement  that  the 
Gospel  Team  Movement  was  born.  One  Sunday  afternoon,  in 
January,  1912,  the  men's  meeting  at  the  Wichita  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  was  in  charge  of  a  group  of  men  recently 
converted  in  the  Billy  Sunday  revival.  That  same  evening  the 
pastor  of  the  First  United  Brethren  Church  asked  one  of  the  lay- 
men to  take  charge  of  the  evening  service.  He  in  turn  invited  nine 
other  men  to  assist  him.  Before  going  to  church  they  met  in  the 
parlor  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  for  prayer  and 
conference.  For  many  of  those  men,  those  were  their  first  public 
prayers,  and  that  evening  most  of  them  gave  their  first  public  testi- 
monies for  Christ.  There  were  nineteen  conversions  that  night. 
It  at  once  suggested  a  type  of  meeting  and  a  plan  of  work  that  was 
soon  to  sweep  over  the  State  transforming  a  multitude  of  folks. 

The  report  of  this  first  meeting  aroused  intense  interest  among 
the  men  of  the  churches.  The  most  practical  business  men  were  not 
too  old  to  ''dream  dreams  and  see  visions."  Here  was  an  oppor- 
tunity that  demanded  red  blood.  Here  was  a  job  to  present  the 
claims  of  Christ  upon  the  lives  of  men  with  tangible  results.  Here 
was  a  task  that  challenged  the  biggest  there  is  in  man,  and  real,  red- 
blooded  men  never  show  the  white  feather.  They  never  back  up  on 
a  job  because  it  seems  bigger  than  the  known  forces  at  their  com- 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  199 

mand.    They  took  to  the  proposition  as  men  always  do  when  chal- 
lenged by  a  job  commensurate  with  their  ability. 

THE    ORGANIZATION 

Following  that  meeting  in  the  First  United  Brethren  Church 
of  Wichita,  men  in  twenty  churches  were  soon  organized,  ready  to 
go  out  and  present  the  claims  of  the  Man  of  Galilee.  Calls  came 
thick  and  fast.  As  the  number  of  the  calls  increased  and  the  work 
enlarged,  a  larger  organization  resulted,  although  in  no  place  is  it 
elaborate.  Some  places  have  only  a  chairman,  while  others  have 
president,  secretary,  and  treasurer.  In  the  towns  and  cities  sup- 
porting a  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  work  is  turned 
over  to  the  Religious  Work  Secretary.  This  chairman,  or  religious 
work  director,  as  the  case  may  be,  has  the  general  supervision  of 
the  whole  team  movement.  All  dates  are  made  through  him.  The 
men  volunteering  are  grouped  into  teams  consisting  of  four  or 
more  men,  with  a  leader.  Where  there  are  four  men  who  can  do 
quartet  w^ork,  the  efficiency  of  the  team  is  doubled. 

Sectarianism  has  lost  its  meaning  with  these  team  men.  They 
are  no  less  loyal  to  their  own  denomination,  but  they  have  the 
real  meaning  of  Christian  unity.  In  no  instance  is  a  team  supposed 
to  be  composed  of  men  all  from  one  church  or  denomination.  Bap- 
tists work  with  Presbyterian,  Reformed  with  United  Brethren, 
Methodists  with  Disciples  of  Christ,  all  working  to  the  limit  of  their 
ability  to  reach  men. 

THE    PERSONNEL   OF   THE   TEAMS 

The  call  of  the  Gospel  Team  Movement  has  been  heard  by  men 
in  all  walks  of  life.  Its  ranks  are  filled  with  lawyers,  doctors,  gro- 
cers, real  estate  dealers,  barbers,  editors,  railroad  men,  teachers, 
drivers,  bankers,  ex-saloonkeepers,  ex-prize  fighters,  blacksmiths, 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries,  college  and  high-school  students,  farmers, 
city  officials,  Chautauqua  lecturers,  etc.  The  man  who  lives  in  a 
mansion  and  the  man  who  lives  in  a  cottage  have  met  in  a  common 
task,  and  each  has  found  that  his  power  to  impress  men  lies  in  his 
contact  with  the  Christ.  Success  does  not  come  because  of  some 
exalted  position,  for  often  the  blacksmith  moves  a  man  whom  an 
ex-Congressman    failed   to  move.     The   most   successful   men   are 


200  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

those  who  have  yielded  to  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  they  are 
men  of  inspiring  faith  and  earnest  prayer. 

THE    METHODS 

The  teams  draw  no  lines  as  to  methods,  but  will  use  every 
workable  plan  to  reach  men,  regardless  of  whether  or  not  it  has 
their  own  denominational  ear-marks  upon  it. 

A  call  comes  for  a  team  to  conduct  a  service  in  a  country 
church.  Some  one  volunteers  the  use  of  an  automobile.  Just  pre- 
vious to  the  meeting  the  team  men  spend  thirty  minutes,  if  possible, 
in  a  season  of  most  earnest  prayer,  prayer  that  rings  true  to  com- 
munion with  God.  In  the  meeting,  the  team  sits  on  the  platform 
with  the  leader  in  charge  of  the  whole  program.  There  is  good, 
lively  singing,  the  Scriptures,  and  several  prayers,  then  the  leader 
introduces  the  speakers.  These  men  do  not  attempt  to  preach. 
None  of  the  speeches  are  manufactured.  They  are  simple,  old- 
fashioned  testimonies  of  the  power  of  God  in  the  life  of  the 
speaker.  His  willingness  to  save,  and  his  ability  to  keep  a  man 
from  sin.  These  are  not  worn  out,  threadbare  testimonies,  but 
testimonies  up-to-date.  After  each  member  of  the  team  has  spoken, 
the  leader  casts  the  net.  The  greatest  variety  of  methods  is  used 
here.  During  the  drawing-in  of  the  net,  invitation  songs  are  sung, 
and  the  team  and  others  go  out  through  the  congregation,  taking 
people  by  the  hand  and  inviting  them  to  the  Christian  life.  This 
is  the  secret  of  the  meeting,  the  key  to  the  movement.  The  results 
have  not  come  by  great  speeches,  but  by  the  "man  to  man"  method 
of  dealing  with  men.  Many  of  these  men  know  but  little  about  the 
principle  of  personal  work,  but  they  are  on  fire  for  the  kingdom. 
The  unsaved  in  the  audience  feel  that  these  men  mean  business. 
They  never  argue;  just  a  simple  invitation,  "Come  on,  old  fellow, 
now  is  your  time."  It  is  not  so  much  what  is  said,  but  the  power 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  life  of  the  man  giving  the  invitation.  These 
men  get  out  in  the  audience  and  "hustle"  for  men  as  on  other  days 
of  the  week  they  "hustle"  for  business.  It  is  an  inspiration  to  a 
pastor,  after  throwing  his  life  into  the  message  on  Sunday  night, 
to  have  twenty  or  thirty  men  go  out  into  the  congregation  when 
the  invitation  is  given,  and  "hustle"  for  decisions  for  Christ. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  201 


THE   RESULTS, 


The  results  of  this  work  cannot  be  measured  by  bare  statistics 
which  indicate  the  number  of  meetings  conducted  and  the  decisions 
made.  But  as  it  is  figures  that  count,  I  shall  mention  a  few  sta- 
tistics that  will  give  you  an  insight  into  the  magnitude  of  the  work 
done  by  these  lay  preachers  of  the  cross.  Wichita  has  three  hun- 
dred and  forty-three  men  engaged  in  this  movement.  These  men 
have  held  two  hundred  and  twenty-nine  meetings  in  the  city  of 
Wichita,  resulting  in  eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven  conversions. 
They  have  made  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  visits  out  of  the 
city,  sometimes  traveling  hundreds  of  miles.  These  visits  have 
been  the  direct  means  of  bringing  two  thousand,  four  hundred  and 
nine  persons  to  know  Christ. 

In  lola,  a  city  of  nine  thousand,  there  have  volunteered  eighty 
men  for  this  kind  of  service  and  ready  to  go  at  any  time.  The 
work  has  been  organized  only  a  year  last  January.  At  first  no 
records  were  kept  as  to  the  visits  and  conversions.  Since  January 
last  there  have  been  two  hundred  and  twenty-nine  decisions  through 
the  efforts  of  these  men. 

Through  the  splendid  service  of  these  teams,  men  of  the 
churches,  who  up  to  the  present  had  been  "seat  warmers,"  covering 
eighteen  inches  of  space  and  paying  their  fares  when  the  conductor 
came  around,  have  caught  a  vision  of  masculinity  in  the  church. 

Many  Bible  classes  have  been  started,  prayer-meetings  estab- 
Hshed  in  the  country  churches  and  school-houses.  Churches  vacant 
for  years  have  been  opened  and  Sunday  schools  organized. 

Around  these  teams  pastors  organize  an  "every-member  can- 
vass" for  church  benevolences.  The  moral  tone  of  many  com- 
munities has  been  radically  changed  for  the  better.  Pool  halls 
have  been  closed;  Sunday  baseball  has  ceased  in  several  com- 
munities. Cottage  prayer-meetings  are  being  conducted  in  many 
localities  with  splendid  results. 

The  influence  of  the  work  cannot  be  estimated.  No  one  is 
able  to  say  how  far-reaching  its  power.  I  have  this  to  say.  Our 
city  churches  have  practically  been  "born  again."  And,  men, 
Kansas  has  no  monopoly  on  it.     You  can  have  it  for  the  trying. 


202  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

THE  RELATION  OF  BIG  TASKS  TO  SPIRITUAL  POWER 
AND  ENTHUSIASM  IN  THE  LOCAL  CHURCH 

BY    S.    F.    DAUGHERTY 

The  evangelization  of  the  world  is  the  one  great  work  of  the 
Christian  church,  and  her  unfinished  task.  Human  ingenuity  can 
dig  ditches  and  construct  aqueducts ;  but  it  cannot  regenerate  lives 
and  transform  them  into  the  likeness  of  Jesus  Christ:  only  God 
can  do  that. 

There  are,  of  course,  other  great  tasks  before  the  church  to- 
day. The  proper  manning  and  support  of  our  educational  institu- 
tions, the  calling  out  and  training  of  a  consecrated  leadership  for 
the  work  of  the  kingdom,  the  capturing  of  our  country  for  Christ, 
and  the  training  of  the  whole  church  in  the  practice  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  Christian  Stewardship — all  these  are  tasks  awaiting  their 
full  accomplishment.  These,  however,  are  only  auxiliary  to  the 
main  issue.  What  we  call  our  "home  work"  is  incidental  to  the 
main  object  of  our  existence.  It  is  work  by  the  way.  We  lose 
when  we  consider  it  anything  else  but  a  means  to  an  end.  If  our 
churches  are  to  have  power  at  home,  it  will  be  when  their  faces  are 
set  toward  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth. 

THE   ONLY   PROMISE   OF   POWER 

"Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture." Herein  is  the  imperial  authority  announcing  the  central  task 
of  the  church.  And,  we  will  do  well  to  remember  that  the  only 
promise  of  power  is  in  connection  with  that  command.  We  are  hav- 
ing a  great  many  conventions  and  similar  meetings  throughout  the 
world  for  the  deepening  of  the  spiritual  life,  and  a  fresh  endue- 
ment  of  power.  What  is  the  promise  for  the  enduement  of  power, 
and  when  was  it  given?  "Jesus  commanded  them  that  they  should 
not  depart  from  Jerusalem,  but  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father. 
Ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon 
you,  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all 
Judea,  and  in  Samaria  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth." 
The  great  promise  of  the  Father  was  sent  to  the  early  disciples  with 
the  sole  purpose  of  fitting  them  to  carry  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture. There  is  no  other  promise  of  power  for  any  other  purpose 
whatever.     This  promise   of   power  in   the  first  chapter  of  Acts 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  203 

was  only  a  reinforcement,  an  emphasis,  a  reiteration  of  the  com- 
mission which  had  previously  been  given  in  Galilee.  ''All  power  is 
given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye  therefore  and  teach 
all  nations,  and,  lo,  I" — the  source  of  all  power — "am  with  you  al- 
way,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  If  we  are  seeking  power 
for  any  other  purpose  than  the  ultimate  evangelization  of  the  world, 
we  are  seeking  it  without  a  warrant.  I  challenge  any  Bible  student 
to  find  a  single  promise  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  ex- 
cept for  the  purpose  of  executing  the  commission  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  Greek  word  is  "dynamis" — dynamite,  dynamo — something 
to  drive  and  to  urge  and  to  make  do ;  that  which  has  motive  power 
in  itself.    That  is  the  very  thing  that  you  and  I    need. 

THE    CONDITIONS    FOR   OBTAINING    POWER 

Do  you  want  God's  life  to  flow  in  and  through  you?  How  is 
this  possible  ?  By  the  simple  law  of  insulation  and  contact.  Yonder 
stretches  the  telephone  wire.  It  is  apart  from  the  world  and  in 
touch  with  the  power  of  electrical  energy.  God  himself  cannot 
speak  through  a  man  in  sinful  touch  with  the  world.  The  message 
will  not  go  over  the  top  of  a  house.  It  must  be  on  an  insulator. 
God  cannot  speak  through  a  worldly  church.  But,  in  contact  with 
him,  insulated,  and  God's  voice  will  speak  through  us  to  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth. 

Again,  we  must  be  willing  to  sacrifice  if  we  desire  the  power. 
Peter  received  it  and  after  a  few  years  he  hung  on  the  cross.  Paul 
received  it;  but  he  had  bonds,  and  imprisonments,  and  no  certain 
dwelling  place,  and  was  buffeted  on  every  side,  and  his  life  was 
most  miserable — as  human  thought  counts  life.  Livingstone  re- 
ceived it  and  it  took  him  into  the  heart  of  Africa.  And  back  of 
Livingstone's  life  was  his  mother,  who  gave  her  David  to  God ; 
and  back  of  Paton's  life  was  the  cradle  and  that  mother's  prayers. 
Do  we  want  Pentecost  repeated  in  our  local  churches?  When  the 
Pentecostal  task  is  undertaken,  Pentecost  will  be  repeated.  As  one 
has  said,  "The  resources  of  God  are  promised  to  those  who  under- 
take the  program  of  God."    God  does  not  waste  his  power. 

THE   LOCAL   CHURCH   AND   POWER 

Now,  if  we  would  bring  our  local  churches  to  their  best,  a 
number  of  things  are  clearly  evident. 


204  Our  Alen  and  Their  Task 

1.  As  spiritual  overseers,  we  must  lead  them  to  undertake  such 
tasks  as  will  challenge  their  most  heroic  faith  and  endeavor.  Tempt 
them  to  undertake  the  impossible,  such  tasks  as  will  constantly 
throw  them  back  on  the  divine  resources.  Says  Doctor  Gaudier, 
of  Toronto,  Canada:  "A  successful  leader  must  have  faith  in  his 
people.  They  have  done  so  little  in  the  past  because  they  have 
never  been  appealed  to  in  the  right  way.  They  have  never  done  a 
great  thing,  because  nothing  great  was  expected  of  them.  Trust 
your  people.  We  have  not  yet  trusted  them.  Congregations,  like 
individuals,  will  honestly  try  to  live  up  to  your  high  opinion  of 
them.  They  like  to  feel  that  their  minister  has  a  high  opinion  and 
expects  them  to  do  noble  things.  You  ask  a  congregation  to  in- 
crease their  giving  to  missions  twenty-five  per  cent.,  and  ten  chances 
to  one,  they  will  not  do  it.  There  is  nothing  in  that  which  appeals 
to  their  imagination.  It  is  not  a  worthy  effort.  It  does  not  arouse 
them.  But  if  you  ask  them  to  double  or  treble  their  offering  to 
missions ;  if  you  ask  them  to  begin  to  give  on  a  scale  that  will 
make  possible  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation, 
they  will  sit  up  and  hsten.  They  will  begin  to  say,  Why,  wouldn't 
it  be  grand  if  only  we  could  do  it?  And  then  the  next  statement 
will  be.  Why,  could  we  not  do  it?  We  can  do  it  if  we  will.  Then 
when  they  have  done  it,  oh,  the  sense  of  strength  that  comes  to 
that  congregation,  and  the  joy  of  achievement,  and  the  glow  of  the 
inspiration  that  girds  them  for  the  future.  That  is  what  comes  of 
doing  a  great  thing." 

2.  We  must  do  our  best  to  enlist  all  in  the  accomplishment  of 
the  tasks  we  set  before  our  people.  There  are  at  least  three  forms 
of  service  in  which  every  member  of  the  local  church  should  have 
a  part,  namely — 

(1)  Prayer.  We  believe  there  is  nothing  that  God  wants  to 
see  in  his  church  more  than  real  intercessors.  It  is  the  highest 
form  of  service  that  he  commits  to  believing  man.  When  the  whole 
church  gives  itself  to  this  service  the  kingdom  of  God  will  come  in 
power. 

(2)  Giving.  "God  so  loved  the  world  [of  men]  that  He  gave 
His  only  begotten  Son."  Here  is  infinite  love  poured  out  for  the 
redemption  of  the  world.  Measured  by  our  sacrifice  in  the  ex- 
pression of  our  gifts   for  the  Lord's  work,  what  shall  we  say  of 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  205 

our  love?     Can  we  honestly  say  that  we  love  the  needy  world  of 


? 


men 

The  new  financial  plan  adopted  by  our  last  General  Confer- 
ence providing  for  an  every-member  canvass,  on  the  weekly  basis 
for  the  local  and  benevolence  budgets  makes  it  comparatively  easy 
to  enlist  the  whole  membership  in  the  service  of  giving.  When  this 
is  done  according  to  God's  plan,  every  member  giving  as  a  mini- 
mum the  tithe  (which  is  the  Lord's)  there  will  be  a  dififerent  spir- 
itual condition  in  our  churches  and  the  work  of  the  church  will 
move  forward  by  leaps  and  bounds. 

(3)  Personal  effort  in  soul  winning.  As  pastors  we  need  to 
lay  upon  our  entire  membership  the  obligation  and  necessity  to  do 
this  service.  What  we  need  in  our  day  is  a  deepening  conviction 
that  men  without  Christ  are  lost,  and  that  there  is  only  one  cure 
for  sin — the  precious  blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  we  who 
have  been  saved  by  the  power  of  the  gospel  are  commissioned  to 
bring  others,  and  they  others,  until  the  whole  world  shall  be  brought 
to  Christ.  Let  us  then  go  back  to  our  local  churches  from  this 
great  Congress,  saying, 

"Surely  Thou  hast  some  work  for  me  to  do, 
Oh !  open  thou  mine  eyes 
To  see  how  thou  wouldst  have  it  done. 
And  where  it  lies !" 


THE  NECESSARY  LOCAL  CHURCH  LEADERSHIP— HOW 

SECURE  IT? 

BY   G.   E.    MCDONALD 

Leadership  is  fundamental  to  progress.  Every  human  enter- 
prise has  depended  upon  the  guiding  genius  of  some  commanding 
soul  whose  personal  leadership  has  inspired  his  age  upward  and 
onward.  From  a  country  ball  game  to  a  battle  of  Gettysburg,  or 
a  laymen's  missionary  movement,  the  requisite  most  vital  to  success 
is  a  real  leader. 

THE    LOCAL    LEADERSHIP    NECESSARY 

First.  The  local  leadership  necessary  is  that  which  has  learned 
to  follow.    The  only  man  who  has  the  right  to  command  is  he  who 


206  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

has  learned  to  obey.  Jesus  said,  ''Follow  me  and  I  will  make  you 
fishers  of  men."  Ideal  Christian  leadership  follows  hard  on  the 
footsteps  of  Christ.  The  foremost  Christian  men  to-day  are  Christ- 
led  men  whose  commission  is  from  their  Lord. 

To  be  thus  linked  to  Christ  guarantees  the  power  and  winsome- 
ness  of  love.  Think  of  the  Scotch  boy  to  whom  Robert  Murrey 
McCheyne  was  the  greatest  man  and  the  grandest  minister  he  ever 
knew  just  because  McCheyne  once  put  his  hand  upon  his  head,  and 
with  a  voice  tremulous  with  love,  said,  "Jamie,  lad,  I'm  very  much 
concerned  about  your  soul."  This  is  nothing  short  of  the  power 
and  winsomeness  of  God  athrob  in  a  human  frame. 

Second.  Quite  as  necessary  is  leadership  that  actually  leads. 
Let  me  illustrate.  Those  of  you  who  were  farmer  boys  will  recall 
how  futile  often  were  all  efforts  to  drive  a  refractory  hog.  The 
thing  seemed  possessed.  But  when  father  came  out  and  gave  the 
old  familiar  call,  "Pigooie,  pigooie,  pigooie,"  all  the  sticks  and 
stones  and  legs  interposed  were  unable  to  keep  the  obdurate  beast 
from  charging  home. 

While  man  is  of  a  higher  order,  still  real,  genuine  manhood  is 
not  easily  driven.  But  an  appeal  to  the  heroic,  from  a  hero,  will 
always  arouse  men  who  have  ginger  in  their  souls  and  iron  in  their 
blood.  We  need,  in  each  local  church,  a  modern  Robert  Bruce  to 
ride  out  in  advance  of  the  lines  and  bid  others  follow. 

Third.  To  such  leadership,  vision  is  essential.  If  blind  lead 
blind,  shall  not  both  fall  into  the  ditch  ?  The  fittest  appellation  ever 
given  the  last  and  greatest  of  the  judges  of  Israel  was,  "Samuel, 
the  seer."  Men,  to  be  leaders,  must  be  seers.  So  great  a  leader 
as  the  Apostle  Paul  dates  his  influence  to  a  certain  "heavenly  vi- 
sion." The  supreme  need  is  for  ministers  and  laymen  who  see ;  who 
see  the  future  as  well  as  the  present,  who  behold  the  vision  of  the 
completed  task  before  even  a  brick  is  laid  or  a  soul  won;  who  see 
beyond  the  confines  of  the  local  community  and  sweep  their  eyes 
over  God's  expanding  kingdom ;  yes,  and  who  carry  back  with  them 
the  exhilaration  of  such  an  experience  into  the  more  sordid  tasks 
of  everyday  life.  Such  leaders  will  surely  lift  the  church  to  re- 
invigorated  consecration.  Such  vision  transforms  common  tasks 
into  glorious  opportunities.  Such  a  seer  lives  in  the  presence  of  the 
thought. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  207 

*'To  serve  the  present  age, 

My  calling  to  fulfill, 
O !  may  it  all  my  powers  engage, 

To  do  my  Master's  will." 

HOW  SECURE  LEADERSHIP? 

First.  Leadership,  like  the  measles,  is  contagious.  Leadership 
begets  leadership.  Strong  personality  is  productive  of  strong  per- 
sonality. The  qualities  of  Washington  and  Lincoln  are  reproduced 
in  a  thousand  men  who  have  admired  their  heroic  and  patriotic  cit- 
izenship. The  great  leaders  of  the  church  were  produced  by  a 
personal  fellowship  with  Jesus  Christ  as  Savior  and  Lord.  Noth- 
ing short  of  this  can  explain  the  marvelous  leadership  of  Charles 
G.  Trumbull,  John  R.  Mott,  and  Robert  E.  Speer.  Not  a  city, 
town,  or  hamlet  from  the  banks  of  the  Monongahala  to  "where 
rolls  the  Oregon,"  but  would  thrill  with  vitality  and  take  advanced 
ground  at  the  application  of  this  living  truth. 

Second.  Leadership  is  secured  by  the  definite  placing  of  re- 
sponsibility upon  local  men.  Let  me  relate  my  first  call  to  service. 
I  was  a  student  at  "old  Philomath."  One  Sunday  morning  a  plain, 
bearded  man  made  a  touching  appeal  for  some  one  to  serve  as 
superintendent  of  a  small  Sunday  school  back  among  the  hills,  near 
his  home.  I  was  asked  to  go.  Only  recently  I  had  been  converted 
and  felt  my  inability,  but  finally  consented  to  serve.  I  recall  one 
stormy  Sunday  morning;  it  just  poured  and  pelted.  It  seemed 
utter  folly  to  attempt  the  trip.  I  patted  my  horse  on  the  neck  and 
said  to  her,  "Little  girl,  I  guess  we  can  do  it  for  His  sake."  It  was 
an  hour's  drive.  There  was  present  one  family,  a  man,  his  wife, 
and  little  daughter.  Of  course,  we  didn't  have  Sunday  school,  but 
we  built  a  roaring  fire  and  sat  around  on  benches  and  talked  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  man  was  not  a  Christian.  Finally  we  all  kneeled 
and  prayed  for  his  salvation.  I  prayed  first,  then  his  wife,  and 
finally  he  prayed  for  himself.  He  was  the  first  man  I  ever  helped 
to  Christ.  Suppose  the  responsibility  had  never  been  laid  upon  me. 
That  experience  was  more  to  me  than  all  the  books  on  leadership 
I  ever  read.  My  ultimate  choice  of  the  ministry  was  influenced 
by  it. 

Of  the  five  Sundays  I  am  absent  from  my  Seattle  pulpit,  lay- 
men will  supply  four  of  them.     Certain  it  is  that  our  congregation 


208  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

will  be  blessed  by  that  plan.  There  are  in  every  local  church  men 
who  are  able  and  wilHng  to  assume  such  responsibility  when  it  is 
earnestly  and  reasonably  presented  to  them.  The  result  of  the  Men 
and  Religion  Forward  Movement  is  a  striking  object  lesson  in  the 
development  of  leaders  among  laymen. 

Third.  In  conclusion,  let  me  affirm  that  the  local  church 
where  the  spirit  of  intercession  constantly  abides  and  where  the 
altar  of  consecration  is  always  aglow,  will  always  produce  great 
leaders.  The  whole  Christian  task  is  dependent  upon  prayer.  Jesus 
fully  realized  this  when  he  urged,  "Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
that  he  send  forth  labourers."  Oh,  for  the  power  of  intercessory 
prayer  in  every  nook  and  cranny  of  the  Church !  And  consecra- 
tion— often  the  ablest  of  leadership  is  dormant.  Moments  of  heart- 
searching  surrender  to  Christ  often  transmute  this  latent  energy 
into  potential.  Now  and  again  a  human  will  comes  from  an  hour 
of  face-to-face  talk  with  Christ,  to  yield  him  a  life  of  regnant 
service  and  leadership. 

Not  one  of  us  shall  go  home  the  same  man  as  when  we  came 
to  this  Congress.  New  visions  have  greeted  our  eyes,  new  appeals 
have  startled  our  ears.  We  should  go  home  to  ride  to  victory  in 
the  chariot  of  the  Lord  or  be  crushed  under  the  wheels  of  irreso- 
lution and  inaction. 

"On,  let  all  the  soul  within  you. 
For  the  truth's  sake  go  abroad ; 
Strike,  let  every  nerve  and  sinew, 
Tell  on  ages,  tell  for  God." 


NATIONAL  POLICY  AND  PROGRAM  FOR  THE 
UNITED  BRETHREN  CHURCH 


PRAYER  A  SUPREME  FACTOR 

BY    ROBERT    E.    SPEER 

Just  forty-one  years  ago  this  week,  a  humble  missionary  was 
found  dead  upon  his  knees  in  a  Httle  village  in  eastern  Africa.  On 
the  most  distant  of  all  his  journeys,  in  a  simple  African  hut,  while 
the  rain  was  dripping  from  the  eaves,  without  a  friend,  David  Liv- 
ingstone had  passed  away  in  the  attitude  of  prayer.  ''How  glad  I 
am,"  said  Major  Malan,  "that  David  Livingstone  died  in  prayer. 
Does  it  not  show  us  where  the  secret  lay  of  his  sacrifice,  of  his  cour- 
age, of  his  endurance?"  And  if  we  bar  one  other  figure  that  we 
can  see  far  back  of  David  Livingstone  to-day,  lifted  up  upon  His 
cross  or  upon  his  knees  praying  for  the  world,  I  do  not  know  where 
we  can  turn  our  eyes  better,  as  we  come  to  the  close  of  this  after- 
noon, than  to  that  little  hut  in  Africa,  and  to  David  Livingstone 
kneeling  there  in  prayer.  For  it  is  not  in  the  money  that  we  give 
that  the  power  is  to  be  found.  Columbia  University,  in  New  York 
City,  alone  spends  more  every  year  than  the  entire  church  to  which 
I  belong  spends  on  its  home  and  foreign  missionary  work.  I  could 
name  half  a  dozen  American  universities  whose  annual  budgets 
combined  exceed  all  the  money  that  all  the  churches  of  America  give 
to  the  task  of  evangelizing  the  non-Christian  world.  It  is  not  a 
large  sum  of  money  that  is  doing  this  work.  The  power  is  not 
there.  It  is  not  in  the  men  and  women  whom  we  send  out.  God 
is  calling  for  more  of  them  and  without  them  even  he,  the  Omnipo- 
tent One,  would  be  impotent.  But  the  power  is  not  in  the  men  and 
women  whom  we  have  sent.  We  have  got  more  soldiers  and  ma- 
rines in  Vera  Cruz  to-day  that  we  have  missionaries  from  the  Amer- 
ican churches  scattered  all  over  the  non-Giristian  world.  Neither 
in  our  money  nor  in  our  men  is  the  power  to  be  found,  but  in  our 

209 


210  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

sufficient  and  all-powerful  and  ever-ready  God.  And  we  must  learn 
here  in  the  days  of  this  convention,  before  we  separate,  where  the 
real  secret  of  power  lies,  unless  all  this  is  to  die  away  just  as  a 
pleasant  memory  of  something  that  was  and  is  not  to  be  any  more. 

When  we  think  of  the  magnitude  of  this  task,  of  the  difficulties 
that  are  to  be  met  and  overcome,  of  the  subtlety  and  the  power  of 
those  unseen  spiritual  foes  against  whom  we  wage  this  war,  of  all 
the  emergencies,  which,  imforeseen,  are  bound  to  arise,  of  the  im- 
possible that  must  be  done,  we  realize  here  to-day  that  the  only 
power  sufficient  for  these  things  is  not  in  ourselves  but  in  our  God. 
And  we  are  called  to  this  ministry  of  prayer  as  we  go  out  into  this 
enterprise,  not  alone  by  our  recognition  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
problem  with  which  we  are  called  upon  to  deal,  but  by  the  memory 
of  Him  who  set  us  this  task  and  who  at  the  very  beginning  lifted 
up  the  example  of  his  own  life  for  us. 

If  ever  there  was  a  servant  of  God  who  could  have  dispensed 
with  prayer  it  was  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  in  him  dwelt  all  the 
fullness  of  the  Godhead.  If  ever  there  w^as  one  who  knew  all  there 
is  in  prayer,  it  was  he,  for  he  did  always  the  things  that  pleased  his 
Father,  and  his  Father  did  not  leave  him  alone.  And  if  there  is 
one  lesson  that  the  life  of  our  Lord  brings  home  upon  our  lives,  it 
is  the  lesson,  the  secret  of  which  he  knew,  that  the  power  of  this 
work  must  lie  in  the  purity  and  the  depth  of  our  fellowship  with 
God,  and  the  reality  and  the  simplicity  of  our  living  trust  in  him. 
For  our  Lord  prayed  for  the  world  and  he  taught  his  disciples  to 
pray  for  the  world.  He  told  them  when  they  wanted  to  find  men 
to  be  associated  with  them  and  to  carry  on  this  task,  to  hunt 
for  them  on  their  knees  in  prayer.  He  filled  his  greatest  prayer 
with  petitions  for  them  and  for  those  who  were  to  come  after  them, 
that  they  might  be  one,  in  order  that  they,  united,  might  convince 
the  world.  His  own  life  illustrated  how  only  prayer  can  give  men 
and  the  church  the  missionary  vision,  and  keep  men  and  the  church 
true  to  the  missionary  duty.  And  do  you  suppose  that  the  early 
church  ever  would  have  done  the  work  it  did,  that  the  message  from 
its  Lord  would  ever  have  come  down  through  that  church,  through 
the  later  ages,  and  to  us,  if  it  had  not  learned  this  secret  in  that 
school?  That  church  began  in  a  room  of  prayer  where  men  and 
women  together  waited,  praying  for  the  coming  of  the  new  power 
in  the  Holy  One ;  when  they  won  new  converts,  they  brought  them 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  211 

at  once  into  that  same  life  of  prayer.  And  you  cannot  study  the 
book  of  Acts  without  seeing  how  each  new  problem  and  emergency 
and  difficulty  as  it  arose  was  met  and  overcome  by  that  simple 
means,  because  they  had  been  with  Jesus  and  had  learned  of  him 
and  because  from  him  they  had  gathered  the  secret  of  access  to  the 
unlimited  resources  and  the  immeasurable  sufficiency  of  God. 

I  say  again,  my  friends,  that  if  we  would  go  out  from  this  con- 
ference to  make  all  this  real,  with  a  purpose  that  nothing  shall  con- 
quer or  destroy,  intelligently  to  do  these  things  that  have  been 
dreamed,  it  will  only  be  as  we  go  as  men  who  have  learned,  when 
we  go  away  from  here,  to  go  into  the  secret  place  of  prayer  with 
Christ  in  God.  For,  what  have  you  been  calling  for?  You  have 
been  calling  for  leaders  who  are  to  go  before  the  Church  in  this 
enterprise.  The  men  and  women  who  have  entered  the  dark  places 
at  home  and  out  in  the  difficult  places  abroad,  can  be  seen  as  the 
Church's  representatives,  the  men  who  in  the  local  congregations 
will  stand  where  Christ  would  have  them  stand,  freely  and  uncom- 
promisingly to  do  his  full,  complete  will — where  are  those  leaders 
to  be  found  ?  You  cannot  train  them  with  books,  however  necessary 
education  may  be.  Where  will  you  get  them,  except  where  Christ 
said  they  were  to  be  obtained?  "Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest,  that  he  will  send  forth  labourers  into  his  harvest."  So  far 
did  the  Moravians  carry  that  principle  that  they  would  do  nothing 
but  pray,  and  expected  that  all  the  men  and  women  needed  by  their 
church  to  carry  on  their  missionary  undertaking  would  be  raised 
up  in  answer  to  the  prayer.  Our  Lord  did  not  go  as  far  as  that. 
The  same  voice  that  said  to  his  disciples,  "Pray  ye  therefore  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest,  to  send  forth  labourers,"  had  first  spoken  to 
those  disciples  saying  unto  them,  "Come  and  follow  Me."  He  who 
prayed  that  his  Father  might  raise  up  men,  went  out  to  find  those 
men,  as  a  wise  fisherman,  in  his  Father's  name.  And  we  know  well 
enough  that  effort  must  go  with  the  prayer.  That  little  band  of  men 
who  a  hundred  odd  years  ago  began  the  American  missionary  enter- 
prise, Samuel  J.  Mills  and  the  little  group  that  went  with  him, 
prayed  and  worked  that  other  men  might  be  led  out  with  them. 
And  I  have  gone  back  to  my  old  school  at  Andover  and  again  back 
to  the  place  where  Adoniram  Judson  kneeled  down  that  night  that 
he  might  first  pray  and  then  from  which  he  arose  to  go  back  to  the 


212  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

rooms  to  speak  to  other  men  about  the  burden  of  their  missionary 
obHgations  to  the  great  non-Christian  world. 

If  we  want  in  your  church,  in  my  church,  in  any  church  in  this 
land,  the  men  and  women  who  are  to  be  Qirist's  own  men  and  wo- 
men, we  shall  find  them  where  Christ  told  us  to  go  for  them,  in  the 
school  of  prayer.  And  there  are  obvious  reasons  why  they  will  not 
be  found  elsewhere.  Because  only  there  are  men  and  women  going 
to  confront  their  own  lives  with  the  character  and  will  of  God  and 
ask  themselves  whether  they  are  the  kind  of  men  and  women  God 
would  have  his  children  be,  and  whether  the  way  that  they  have 
marked- out  for  themselves  is  his  way.  It  is  before  his  face  that 
light  will  shine  and  men  and  women  will  know  what  they  ought  to 
be  and  do.  '*Oh,  Lord,"  prayed  St.  Augustine,  "I  do  not  ask  thee 
to  bend  the  straight  to  the  crooked,  that  is,  thy  will  to  mine ;  I 
humbly  pray  thee  to  bend  the  crooked  to  the  straight,  that  is,  my 
will  to  thine;  that  thy  will  may  be  done  on  the  earth  and  that  thy 
kingdom  may  come  in  the  world."  And  just  as  we  pray  that  prayer 
ourselves  and  pervade  our  churches  with  that  prayer,  will  that 
Presence  come  down  around  us  that  shall  make  us  want  to  do,  make 
it  impossible  for  us  to  do  aught  else  than  the  perfect  will  of  God 
for  all  the  world. 

Just  as  only  intercessory  prayer  is  going  to  give  us  our.  lead- 
ership, raise  up  the  men  and  women  who  will  lead,  so  only  prayer 
can  equip  these  leaders  for  their  work  and  hold  them  faithful  and 
true  in  all  kinds  of  trial  and  temptation  into  which  that  work  is  to 
carry  them.  I  heard  Doctor  Horton,  fourteen  years  ago  at  a  Stu- 
dent Volunteer  convention  in  London,  say  that  he  was  sure  that 
what  he  had  found  would  hold  true  across  the  whole  field  of  mis- 
sionary biography,  that  there  never  had  been  a  great  and  successful 
missionary  who  had  not  been  a  great  athlete  of  prayer.  Has  it  not 
been  so?  William  Carey,  in  his  old  pagoda  on  tlie  banks  of  the 
Ganges ;  David  Brainerd,  in  his  corn-crib,  where  he  poured  out  his 
heart  to  God  in  prayer;  Judson,  with  his  prayer  place  in  the  open 
air  and  that  secret  place  in  his  own  house  where  he  went  so  often 
that  his  children  would  say,  ''Father  is  in  prayer."  What  gave 
those  men  their  power  and  left  a  mark  behind  them  finally  on  the 
world,  except  that  fellowship  of  theirs  with  the  unlimited,  resource- 
ful God.  We  had  an  old  missionary  of  our  church  who  died  just 
a  few  years  ago  on  his  way  home  from  Persia — a  simple-hearted. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  213 

humble,  Christian  man.  He  gave  me,  years  ago,  a  little  bit  of  a 
book  called  ''Daily  Light,"  a  duplicate  of  one  he  had  used  himself 
for  many  years,  and  later  I  saw  the  copy  that  he  had  used  himself 
and  in  which  he  had  a  little  list  of  daily  purposes  to  guide  his  morn- 
ing prayer.  "First,  reading  from  'Daily  Light' ;  second,  brief  medi- 
tation on  the  same ;  third,  prayer :  first,  thanksgiving  for  the  mercies 
of  the  night  and  the  morning ;  second,  confession  of  dereliction  from 
duty  and  sense  of  sin ;  third,  profession  of  allegiance  and  love  of 
God  in  Christ;  fourth,  supplication  for  clearer  views  of  the  divine 
presence,  for  a  clear  understanding  of  the  divine  will,  and  for  en- 
t  tire  surrender  to  that  will ;  for  aid  to  accomplish  the  rightful  order 
of  duty  during  the  day;  for  industry  and  energy  to  carry  out  its 
duties,  and  for  a  pervading  sense  of  the  co-operation  of  my  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  myself  in  every  phase  of  life  and  service;  for 
patience  and  gentleness,  with  proper  firmness,  in  my  intercourse 
with  the  natives ;  for  clear  conception  of  mission  policy  and  for 
wisdom  hi  defending  them  among  my  brethren ;  for  a  watchfulness 
and  a  will  against  besetting  sins,  with  constant  dependence  on  the 
Holy  Spirit's  aid."  And  then  I  knew  where  his  fountains  had  been,— 
in  Him  where  strength  and  patience  and  power  are  to  be  found. 

It  is  not  enough  to  send  out  a  multitude.  The  multitude  may 
be  powerless,  with  less  power  than  the  few.  One  man  in  God,  be- 
hind whom  are  men  who  believe  in  God  and  who  sustain  him  by 
faith  in  God  and  by  opening  in  his  behalf  the  boundless  energies  of 
God,  is  the  man  in  whom  the  strength  and  the  achievement  will  lie. 

Not  only  must  we  learn  this  secret  of  intercession  to  find  our 
men  and  to  find  our  women,  but  what,  after  all,  in  our  effort  as 
regards  the  missionary  enterprise,  is  the  great  thing  that  we  are 
trying  to  do?  It  is  to  raise  up  in  those  different  lands — as  Doctor 
Hough  has  been  so  clearly  pointing  out  to  you — to  raise  up  in  those 
different  foreign  lands.  Christian  churches  that  shall  have  a  life 
and  power  of  their  own ;  that  can  stand  the  killing  days  which  have 
come  and  will  come  again ;  that  can  bear  their  testimony  of  purity 
and  conviction  in  the  midst  of  ignorance  and  darkness  and  unbelief. 
And  how  can  those  churches  be  produced  ?  Only  by  miracle,  only 
by  changing  men,  putting  in  the  men  a  new  spirit;  only  as  we  do 
here  by  prayer  open  up  the  great  powers  which  alone  can  do  the 
things  that  men  and  women  must  do — the  impossible  things  around 
the  world. 


214  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

And,  once  more,  if  we  need,  as  we  know  we  need,  going  out 
into  these  new  days,  wise  minds  and  united  hearts,  where  shall  we 
find  them  except  as  we  pray  for  others  and  others  pray  also  for  us. 
There  died  just  a  few  years  ago  in  northern  China,  an  old  man 
whom  we  regarded  in  our  church  as  one  of  our  most  revered  mis- 
sionaries, and  whom  everybody  in  China  looked  up  to  as  one  of  the 
most  serviceable  missionaries  in  the  empire  then.  He  had  been 
one  of  the  chairmen  of  the  great  missionary  conference  in  China 
which  preceded  the  last.  He  wrote  a  little  book  which  I  suppose 
not  many  of  you  have  seen,  which  I  presume  has  been  the  most 
influential  book  on  missionary  methods  and  practice  that  has  been 
written  since  the  apostolic  days.  I  refer  to  Dr.  John  L.  Nevius. 
Long  after  this,  he  himself  wondered  how  he  came  to  write  that 
book.  He  said  he  had  a  consciousness  while  he  was  coming  to  it 
tliat  something  else  was  working  besides  himself,  and  several  times 
he  stopped  and  said,  "I  am  sure  that  Christians  at  home  must  be 
praying  for  me,  for  I  am  seeing  what  I  had  never  seen  and  finding 
what  I  had  never  found" ;  yes,  and  v.diat  he  never  would  have  seen 
and  never  would  have  found,  if  a  light  had  not  come  stealing  into 
his  life  and  a  guidance  come  upon  him  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of 
men  and  women  at  home. 

James  Chalmers,  of  the  South  Seas,  was  looked  upon  sometimes 
as  one*  of  those  whole-souled,  human  men  who  didn't  have  any  hid- 
den, mystical  life,  but  when  at  last  his  letters  came  to  light,  it  was 
seen  how  beneath  that  bouyant  happiness  that  was  apparent  on  the 
surface  was  buried  the  deep  trust  and  fellowship  with  God  in  his 
life.  "My  friends,"  he  wrote  home,  ''be  sure  to  pray  yet  more  for 
me  that  I  may  know  the  wise  way  and  walk  in  that  way."  I  ask 
you  to  put  yourself  in  places  like  his  this  afternoon;  the  lonely 
places,  far  away,  isolated  in  the  darkness  with  no  outside  associates 
to  rely  upon,  with  no  great  stream  of  Christians  sustaining  you  and 
carrying  results  into  your  hands ;  with  no  friends  there  with  whom 
you  can  consult;  standing  alone  before  the  great,  unbroken  walls 
of  darkness.  Put  yourself  in  such  places  and  ask  where  you  would 
feel  yourself  to  be  or  what  you  could  feel  that  you  could  do,  unless 
you  knew  that  back  of  you  there  were  men  and  women  who  believed 
in  God,  and  who,  in  response  to  Christ's  call,  were  achieving  for 
you  the  things  that  only  prayer  can  do. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  215 

And  the  blessedness  of  this  as  the  one  great  necessary  and 
central  missionary  resource  lies  in  this :  That  it  brings  it  within 
the  power  of  every  man  and  woman  of  us,  the  most  ignorant  and 
least  equipped,  to  take  a  large  part  in  the  work  of  the  world's 
evangelization.  Not  very  many  of  us  have  been  gifted  with  many 
talents ;  we  know  how  little  we  can  accomplish  with  men.  But,  my 
friends,  there  is  nothing  that  the  weakest  of  us  cannot  accomplish 
through  God.  In  prayer  there  is  open  to  every  man,  no  matter  how 
small  his  other  resources  are,  a  leverage  of  absolutely  endless  and 
unlimited  power.  I  have  a  friend  who  is  the  minister  of  a  dying 
church  on  the  East  Side  in  New  York  City.  A  great  Hebrew  com- 
munity has  crowded  in  around  him  until  I  don't  suppose  he  has  a 
single  church  member  who  lives  within  five  miles  of  his  church, 
and  only  a  little  handful  of  people  come  in  from  Sunday  to  Sunday 
to  worship,  but  he  has  not  been  thinking  these  years  of  discourage- 
ment or  defeat.  Just  the  other  day  I  got  this  letter  from  him: 
''Dear  Mr.  Speer:  Will  you  let  me  have  a  little  of  your  time,  just 
a  little?  I  am  wanting  to  help  in  the  great  work  of  God,  much 
more  than  I  have,  by  prayer.  Lly  tent's  place  has  enlarged ;  my  heart 
keeps  going  out  to  so  many  and  so  far.  God  denied  my  desire  to 
go  into  foreign  fields  myself  and  suffer  for  him,  but  he  lets  me  be  in 
the  travail  of  prayer  and  I  have  a  little  part  in  the  great  work,  the 
prayer  part.  Now,  will  you  help  me  in  this  way?  I  wish  to  keep 
in  touch  with  the  fields  abroad.  For  instance,  Mrs.  Hudson  Taylor, 
in  her  books,  helps  me  in  certain  work  in  China.  Will  you  let  me 
know  about  other  books.  Our  own  church  is  dear  to  me,  but  I  do 
not  especially  desire  this  confined  to  our  church  work.  I  want  to 
get  into  more  fields.  The  books  you  suggest  will  help  me.  I  always 
hold  you  daily  in  my  heart  in  prayer." 

Here  he  is  buried,  almost  as  badly  buried  as  though  he  were 
ui  blackest  China,  in  the  East  Side  of  New  York  City,  and  the  bor- 
ders of  his  tent  steadily  being  pushed  out,  while  his  believing  life  of 
prayer  gathers  in  more  and  more  of  the  world.  And  you  and  I  can 
take  into  our  lives,  as  we  go  away  from  this  conference,  field  after 
field  of  our  own  church,  of  other  churches.  We  can  make  our- 
selves felt  there  as  really  as  though  we  were  physically  there.  We 
can  bring  down  powers  there  and  accomplish  results  there  as  really 
as  though  we  ourselves  spoke  and  dwelt  there,  if  we  will  believe  in 
prayer  and  will  pray.     I  don't  know  whether  you  have  in  your 


216  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

Church,  as  we  have  in  ours,  a  little  prayer  calendar.  Two  of  them 
we  have,  which  contain  the  names  of  all  our  home  and  foreign  mis- 
sionaries distributed  over  the  days  of  the  year,  so  that  on  one  day 
we  pray  for  a  certain  missionary  at  home  and  for  a  certain  mission- 
ary abroad.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  have  some  such  actual  reminder 
as  that  of  a  definite  opportunity  and  responsibility  for  the  day.  In 
many  homes  we  use  the  books  of  family  prayers  and  the  children 
are  the  custodians  of  the  books,  and  when  we  have  had  our  Bible 
reading  they  bring  their  prayer  books  and  read  the  names  of  the 
missionaries  for  whom  we  are  to  pray  that  day,  mentioning  them 
so,  at  the  day's  beginning,  that  the  names  may  linger  through  the 
day,  and  maybe  the  heart  school  itself  into  bringing  back  those 
names  and  through  the  day  make  prayer  for  those  who  stand  thus 
in  need  for  that  day. 

I  put  it  to  you  simply  now  before  we  go.  There  is  not  a  word 
that  I  have  said  that  is  not  familiar  to  and  accepted  by  each  of  us. 
But  it  is  so  much  easier  to  say  than  it  is  to  do.  So  much  easier 
to  believe  in  prayer  theoretically  than  to  live  the  life  of  prayer.  And 
yet  what  other  work  is  there  that  can  compare  with  it?  You  re- 
member the  statement  that  was  found  in  General  Samuel  C.  Arm- 
strong's papers  after  his  death,  in  which  he  said,  'T  don't  want  any 
fuss  made  over  me.  I  w^ant  only  a  soldier's  funeral.  Just  taps,  and 
that  is  all."  After  all,  he  said,  there  isn't  much  to  be  said  about  any 
man's  life.  "My  own  creed  is  very  short.  Simply  to  Thy  cross  I 
cling.  I  haven't  done  very  much,"  he  said,  "but  the  best  work  I 
ever  did  was  prayer.  I  have  spent  at  least  one-tenth  of  my  waking 
time  in  prayer."  He  was  a  soldier  and  a  working  man,  but  as  he 
looked  back  from  the  end  he  knew  that  the  best  work  he  had 
ever  done  v/as  his  prayer;  and  you  and  I,  if  we  are  going  to  do 
anything  for  our  Lord,  and  to  accomplish  those  things  that  have 
been  laid  before  us  here  to  do  also  must  learn  the  pathway  into 
that  companionship,  into  which  Jesus  Christ  gathered  his  disciples, 
when  he  taught  them  to  pray,  and  in  teaching  them  to  pray,  told 
them  to  ask  that  the  will  of  God  might  be  done  and  that  his  king- 
dom might  come  on  this  earth  even  as  in  heaven.  And  do  we  need 
to  be  appealed  to  thus  to  begin  the  life  of  prayer  when  God,  our 
Father,  the  Lord  and  King  of  all,  asks  us  to  come  up  into  his  com- 
panionship and  wield  his  power?  When  his  Son,  our  Lord,  opens 
up  his  arms  to  us  and  asks  us  to  come  and  abide  in  his  fellowship — 


Otir  Men  and  Their  Task  217 

do  we  need  to  be  appealed  to  to  accept  invitations  like  those?    Not 
so,  not  so.    Let  us  pray. 


THE  PRESENT  DAY  MISSIONARY  OPPORTUNITY. 

BY   ROBERT    E.    SPEER. 

If  there  ever  was  a  time  when  Christian  men  and  women  were 
called  upon  to  consider  the  task  of  making  Jesus  Christ  actually 
sovereign  in  the  life  of  the  world,  that  time  is  to-day.  In  whatever 
direction  we  lift  our  eyes  they  fall  upon  situations  which  require 
healing,  and  which  nothing  but  the  gospel  of  Christ  can  heal. 
Across  the  sea,  in  Great  Britain,  we  have  seen  these  last  few  years 
a  feud  which  has  lasted  for  seven  centuries,  threatening  to  break 
out  in  civil  bloodshed,  in  northern  Ireland.  On  the  continent  of 
Europe,  we  see  withdrawn  from  productive  industry,  in  great 
armies  whose  very  existence  tends  to  bring  on  the  very  wars  which 
they  are  supposed  to  prevent,  more  men  than  the  entire  population 
of  Chile  or  of  the  Republic  of  Colombia,  and  we  see  expended  in  their 
maintenance,  which  must  be  paid  for  by  the  common  people  of  these 
European  lands,  within  one  year  fifty  times  as  much  as  all  the 
South  American  repubHcs  spend  on  education  in  the  same  period  of 
time.  In  southern  Africa,  and  on  our  own  Pacific  seacoast,  we 
are  watching  even  now  the  smoke  and  flames  of  racial  discord  and 
hate,  threatening  to  disrupt  the  British  Empire,  as  far  as  good 
relations  between  India  and  the  home  land  are  concerned,  and 
threatening  to  involve  us  in  difficulties  with  a  nation  which  for  more 
than  half  a  century  has  counted  itself  among  our  best  friends.  In 
the  lands  to  the  south  of  us,  and  especially  in  our  nearest  neighbor, 
and  not  least  within  our  own  border,  we  are  looking  on  conditions 
that  simply  appall  the  Christian  heart. 

I  say  once  again,  that,  if  there  ever  was  a  time  when  Christian 
men  and  women  were  called  upon  to  make  a  conscientious  effort 
actually  to  bring  the  world  under  the  domination  of  Christ's  gospel, 
that  time  is  to-day. 

Do  we  see  any  such  effort  as  this  being  made,  any  really  ade- 
quate attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Christian  Church  to  carry  out  her 
program  or  to  fulfill  her  mission  ?  As  we  look  back  across  the  years 
and  measure  what  is  doing  to-day  with  what  has  been  done  in 


218  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

years  gone  by,  there  is  a  great  deal  over  which  we  may  take  good 
courage  to  go  forward.  I  know  how  discouraged  you  feel  to-day, 
as  you  look  over  the  curtailment  of  your  work  and  face  these  deficits 
in  your  missionan^  undertakings.  We  stand  among  those  same 
shadows.  We  shall  have  to  go  up  to  our  General  Assembly  this 
spring  in  our  own  Church  and  report  in  our  foreign  mission  work 
a  deficit  of  nearly  three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  in  our  home 
mission  work  a  deficit  of  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars.  We  are  sorry  to  see  that  almost  all  our  missionary  agen- 
cies— our  Episcopal  friends,  our  Baptist  friends,  our  Methodist 
friends,  are  in  the  same  plight  with  ourselves.  But,  after  all,  these 
deficiencies  do  not  mark  a  retrogression.  All  that  they  indicate  is 
simply  that  somebody's  faith  has  been  greater  than  the  Church's 
obedience,  and  that  instead  of  bringing  down  the  level  of  our  un- 
dertakings to  the  low  plane  of  what  the  mass  of  men  are  ready  to 
do,  there  were  some  men  at  least  who  dared  to  go  forward  with  a 
larger  and  more  obedient  purpose.  And  if  we  look  back  across  the 
long  range  of  years,  we  thank  God  for  all  the  advancements  that  we 
have  witnessed,  the  larger  areas  which  have  been  claimed  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  the  deepening  missionary  spirit  of  the  Church  at 
home,  the  swelling  tides  of  life  that  are  offered  to  Christ  for  his 
work  throughout  the  world.  Measuring  where  we  are  now  with 
where  our  fathers  were  generations  ago,  we  thank  God ;  for  the  pur- 
pose of  the  Christian  church  to  carry  out  its  commission  and  make 
Christ  actually  the  Lord  of  all  the  world,  is  clearer,  more  emphatic 
than  it  has  ever  been. 

But,  my  friends,  when  we  measure  our  efifort  against  the 
ideal,  there  lies  a  great  gulf  opened  before  us.  Against  the  stand- 
ard of  the  Cross,  how  low  and  pitiful  all  that  we  are  doing  appears 
— the  cross  that  stands  for  the  utter  sacrifice  of  the  highest  and 
best,  the  laying  down  of  the  life  of  God  to  the  very  uttermost.  When 
we  measure  our  little  two-cent-a-week  proposals,  the  petty  budgets 
of  our  church  finances,  the  little,  narrow  schemes  of  our  small 
faith,  against  the  standard  of  the  cross,  how  low  and  squalid  and  dis- 
obedient they  appear.  And  when  we  measure  them,  not  against  the 
standard  of  the  cross  alone,  but  against  the  summons  of  this 
present  world,  the  call  of  the  cross  from  every  one  of  the  world's 
great  opportunities,  how  inadequate,  once  again,  are  they  shown 
to  be. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  219 

I  want  to  ask  you  for  just  a  little  while,  to  survey  these  op- 
portunities. We  are  looking  out  to-day  on  an  unequaled  opportu- 
n.ity  in  almost  every  non-Christian  land.  Let  us  begin  with  Japan. 
There  are  many  of  us  here  this  evening  who  can  recall  the  great 
days  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  or  thirty-five  years  ago,  when  the 
tide  of  Christian  interest  was  strongest  in  the  empire  of  Japan.  I 
can  remember  in  my  own  college  days,  when  Doctor  Knox  predicted 
that  within  twenty-five  years  there  would  not  be  any  need  of 
Christian  missionaries  from  the  Western  lands  in  the  Japanese  Em- 
pire; the  Japanese  Church  by  that  time  would  be  able  to  carry  all 
the  responsibilities  of  the  evangelization  of  the  Japanese  people. 
But,  great  as  the  opportunity  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago  in 
Japan  was,  that  opportunity  is  greater  and  more  appealing  with  us 
to-day — greater  in  the  Japanese  cities ;  greater  among  the  great 
mass  of  the  Japanese  people,  where  there  is  eighty  per  cent,  of  the 
population  filling  the  untouched  villages  of  the  land.  The  old 
need  is  there  just  as  it  has  ever  been — the  need  of  a  clean,  untainted, 
ethical  ideal.  I  heard  a  little  while  ago  a  man  who,  I  think,  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting  of  Asiatic  personalities  to-day,  speaking  in 
slow  English,  but  wonderfully  clear  and  powerful,  each  word  ex- 
actly designated  to  carry  the  shade  of  thought  he  had  in  mind,  of 
this  very  need,  which  he  said  had  always  characterized  his  nation. 
"Never,"  he  said,  "and  this  is  our  great  difference  in  Japan  from 
you,  never  have  we  had  in  all  the  history  of  Japan,  a  single  character 
whom  we  could  hold  up  before  our  young  men  as  a  moral  ideal,  an 
unsullied  moral  ideal."  The  old  need  of  a  clean  ethical  ideal  re- 
mains, and  the  old  need  also  of  adequate  power  by  which  that  ideal 
should  be  realized.  Just  a  little  while  ago  Shaku  Soyru  went  out  on 
a  preaching  tour  through  Southern  Japan.  Some  of  you  may  re- 
member him  as  the  Buddhist  priest  who  came  to  represent  the  Japa- 
nese religion  at  the  Parliament  of  Religions  in  Chicago,  an  honest 
man  and  capable.  When  he  came  to  this  town  in  Southern  Japan 
an  old  disciple  of  his,  who  had  become  a  Christian,  went  around  to 
call  on  the  priest  and  told  him  of  his  having  abandoned  his  Bud- 
dhism to  follow  Christ.  "Well,"  said  the  old  man,  "I  cannot  re- 
prove you,  for  I  see  that  there  is  a  power  in  Christianity  which 
our  Buddhism  lacks."  Japan  needs  not  only  the  moral  ideal  of  one 
in  whom  there  was  no  sin,  faultless  and  pure,  but  the  power  by 


220  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

which  such  an  One  enables  others  who  will  let  Him  live  in  their 
lives  to  reproduce  his  character  in  their  own  personalities. 

The  old  need  is  there  in  Japan  to-day,  but  that  old  need  is  in- 
tensified by  the  Western  industrialism.  There  are  the  same  prob- 
lems that  exist  here  at  home,  transported  to  Japan,  with  none  of  the 
moral  recourses  we  have  with  which  to  cope  with  them,  intensified 
by  the  decay  of  the  old  ethical  sanctions  and  ideals — intensified  by 
the  passing  of  the  old  order  in  the  death  of  the  aged  Emperor,  and 
with  him  the  collapse  of  many  of  the  old  superstitions  that  still  sur- 
vived around  his  person,  deepened  by  the  advent  of  Christianity, 
which  has  made  Japan  aware  as  never  before  of  the  bottomlessness 
of  her  moral  needs.  I  say,  we  are  facing,  as  never  before,  a  need 
and  opportunity  among  the  fifty  millions  of  the  most  alert-minded 
people  in  Asia,  who  are  to-day  leading  the  rest  of  the  Asiatic  na- 
tions, a  need  of  which  these  people  themselves  are  becoming  at 
last  aware.  There  came  to  the  jubilee  meeting  of  the  Protestant 
missionaries  in  Japan,  as  some  here  may  recall,  Count  Okuma  to 
speak  of  two  things :  First,  his  own  indebtedness  to  the  Christian 
missionary,  Guido  Verbeck,  a  man  who  had  gone  to  Japan  with  no 
nationality  of  his  own,  who,  when  his  end  had  come,  the  Emperor 
of  Japan  buried  at  his  own  expense,  as  a  man  beloved  of  the  na- 
tion to  which  in  love  he  had  given  his  life.  Count  Okuma  had  come 
first  to  speak  of  his  indebtedness  to  Verbeck,  of  all.  the  work 
he  had  done  in  moulding  his  own  earlier  days ;  and  then  he  spoke  of 
what  he  described  as  the  present  moral  thirst  of  Japan.  ''Gentlemen," 
he  said,  *'as  you  know,  the  old  religions  have  lost  their  hold  on  the 
intelligent  classes.  We  are  like  men  who  are  spiritually  thirsty  and 
who  have  nothing  to  drink" — men  who  are  spiritually  thirsty  and 
who  have  nothing  to  drink. 

It  is  a  great  thing  when  a  nation  awakes  in  this  way  to  a  sense 
of  its  spiritual  need.  We  have  not  seen  this  in  Japan  for  nearlv  a 
generation.  The  great  men  have  deemed  religion  mere  superstition 
and  that  nation  the  best  which  had  been  most  able  to  emancipate 
itself  from  the  bondage  of  religion,  but  Japan  has  now  awakened  to 
realize  that  there  can  be  no  stable  political  institutions  that  do  not 
rest  on  moral  foundations;  that  do  not  draw  their  life  from  reli- 
gious springs.  And  a  new  religious  access  has  been  opened  to  us. 
Mr.  Heckelman  was  telling  us,  at  the  Student  Volunteer  Con- 
vention in  Kansas  City  this  last  winter,  at  the  meeting  of  those  stu- 


Our  Mm  and  Their  Task  221 

dents  who  were  specially  interested  in  Japan  of  this  awakening  to 
new  spiritual  need  and  hunger.     He  had  gone,  he  said,  to  a  great 
normal  school  in  the  city  of  Japan,  where  there  is  the  biggest  idol 
of  Buddha  in  the  world,  and  he  had  been  afraid  to  accept  the  invita- 
tion   at    first    to    speak    in    the    government    school    in    fear    that 
he  would  get  the  head  of  that  school  into  difficulties,  for,  as  he 
told  him,  he  could  not  speak  of  anything  but  his  religion,  and  he 
knew  that  it  was  not  tolerable  that  men  should  speak  on  Christian 
religion  in  the  government  schools  of  Japan.    But  his  friend  urged 
him  to  come  and  speak  without  restraint.     Mr.  Heckelman  said  he 
arose  in  the  meeting  and  taking  his  pocket  Testament  out  of  his 
pocket,  he  read  a  few  words  of  Christ  about  which  to  speak  to 
the  three  hundred  Japanese  young  men  who  were  gathered  there. 
Instantly,  he  said,  nearly  three  hundred  hands  went  up  their  sleeves 
and  every  lad  pulled  out  a  Testament  of  his  own  and  found  the 
place  where  the  words  were  written,  from  which  Mr.  Heckelman 
was  going  to  speak.     They  were  not  Christian  men.     Far  from  it, 
many  of  them.     But  they  were  aware  that  their  nation  was  suf- 
fering from  a  great  spiritual  need,  and  where  else  could  they  go  for 
the  words  of  life  but  there,  where  our  Lord's  disciples  went  for 
them  eighteen  hundred  years  ago ;  where  all  the  world  has  had  to 
go  for  them  in  the  years  that  have  gone  by  since  ?     I  do  not  envy 
the  man  who  can  look  with  unmoved  heart  on  a  nation  of  men  who 
say  they  are  spiritually  thirsty  and  who  have  nothing  to  drink. 

And  right  across  the  straits  from  this  nation  of  fifty  millions 
there  is  a  greater  mass— one-fourth  of  the  whole  human  race— a 
nation  which  was  organized,— though  it  was  not  civilized,  when 
Abraham  moved  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  among  the  best  and 
most  substantial  people  on  the  earth.  A  year  or  two  ago  we  all 
thought  the  opportunity  of  the  ages  had  come,  and  have  been  la- 
menting now  because  it  has  seemed  that  that  opportunity  has  gone 
by.  Why,  my  friends,  it  has  not  gone  by.  It  is  here  to-day,  brighter 
far  than  it  was  a  year  ago,  or  two  years  ago.  Not  a  door  has 
been  closed ;  not  a  heart  that  was  open  has  been  shut.  Everything 
that  it  was  possible  to  do  last  year  or  the  year  before  in  China  in 
the  name  of  Christ  is  possible  to-day— more  possible,  because  it  is 
always  well  to  have  delusions  pass  and  to  plant  our  feet  again  on 
reality;  to  see  great  hallucinations  go  by.  There  were  men'' telling 
us  that  the  time  would  come  to  convert  a  nation  wholesale  to  brin^ 


222  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

by  one  massive  act  of  collective  salvation  a  whole  race  into  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Well,  we  have  seen  the  illusion  of  collective  sal- 
vation pass  by.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  collective  redemption  for 
mankind.  I'»Iankind  is  made  up  of  men,  for  each  one  of  whom 
individually,  the  Lord  Christ  died,  and  they  must  come  individually, 
one  by  one,  into  the  life  that  Christ  came  to  give.  Undoubtedly  it 
is  true  that  there  are  great  social  forces  that  move  upon  men,  but 
what  are  men  but  men?  What  is  society  but  a  great  mass  of  per- 
sons, for  each  one  of  whom  Christ  died ;  for  whom  Christ  would 
have  died  if  there  had  been  but  one.  What  Professor  Ross  says  in 
his  book  on  ''The  Changing  Chinese"  we  now  see  to  be  true  of  them 
as  of  all  the  world,  that  spiritual  Christianity  spreads  across  the 
world  by  the  winning  of  individuals  to  Christ  and  not  by  the  at- 
tracting of  great  masses  to  him.  That  was  the  reason  China's  great 
movement  collapsed.  It  had  no  efficient  basis  on  redeemed  personal 
character. 

I  saw  the  other  day  a  letter,  written  by  a  Chinese  Senator  and 
one  of  the  new  leaders,  just  after  the  great  collapse  had  come.  He 
is  a  graduate  of  a  great  American  University;  and  he  said  in  this 
letter  that  all  around  them  they  had  educated  men,  men  from  Yale 
and  Harvard,  Columbia  and  Cambridge,  but,  he  said,  the  great  plan 
failed  because  educated  men  were  not  enough.  All  around  him  he 
saw  these  men,  and  *'they  went  down  like  chaff  before  the  winds  of 
success  and  of  temptation.  We  shall  never  succeed  until  we  have 
men  with  Christ  in  them."  You  can  only  build  a  nation  on  individ- 
ual men — a  great  nation  on  great  men — a  Christian  nation  on  Giris- 
tian  men ;  and  the  opportunity  to  make  Christian  men  in  China  is  not 
less  to-day  that  a  year  ago,  and  the  obviousness  of  the  need  of  it 
is  more  appallingly  clear.  I  say  the  opportunity  is  not  less.  The 
same  access  is  there  now  that  there  was.  The  same  appetite  to  hear; 
the  same  consciousness  that  something  must  come  that  has  not 
been  to  save  their  land.  I  have  a  letter  here  which  I  received  the 
other  day  from  one  of  our  missionaries  in  the  interior  of  China.  He 
had  just  been  on  a  long  country  trip  from  the  city  of  Hwai  Yuen — 
such  a  trip  he  said  as  he  had  never  made  before  and  he  had  made 
many — *'As  I  look  back  over  that  trip/  he  said,  in  the  closing  par- 
agraph, "the  one  thing  which  remains  most  clearly  in  my  mind  is  the 
new  eagerness  on  the  part  of  so  many  people  to  listen.  I  have  often 
been  in  crowds  during  my  life  in  China,  but  never  been  in  such 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  223 

listening  crowds;  never  when  there  were  so  many  who  seemed  to 
come  not  because  of  curiosity,  but  because  they  wanted  to  hear 
about  God.  It  is  a  very  inspiring  memory  and  a  very  sobering  one, 
too.  But  how  are  we  meeting  this  opportunity?  How  are  we 
entering  into  these  new  doors  which  God  has  so  wonderfully  opened 
for  us?  Perhaps  we  should  meet  it  with  the  same  prayer  that  was 
overheard  among  the  women  in  one  of  our  meetings  in  Meng  Chen. 
The  room  w^as  full  of  women  trying  to  memorize  the  Lord's  prayer. 
There  was  much  noise  and  confusion ;  and  one  faithful  old  soul, 
trying  in  vain  to  keep  up,  finally  went  off  to  a  corner  and  she  was 
heard  there  repeating  a  little  prayer  of  her  own.  It  was  short.  She 
said  it  as  follows,  again  and  again :  "Oh,  Lord,  thankful  and  unwor- 
thy !  Thankful  and  unworthy !" 

I  ask  you,  my  friends,  in  what  particular  are  we  meeting  it?  Or 
are  we  trying  to  meet  it  all?  This  unequaled  opportunity  to  mould 
the  most  serviceable  people  in  the  world. 

Or  again,  third,  there  is  that  magnitude  of  opportunity  in  the 
second  largest  people  of  the  world,  the  three  hundred  millions  and 
more  of  India.  They  have  just  been  counting  them,  as  indicated 
in  the  last  Indian  census  that  the  British  government  takes  every 
ten  years.  Do  you  know  how  long  the  British  government  requires 
to  count  the  people  of  India,  over  three  hundred  millions  of  them? 
Between  sunset  and  sunrise  of  a  single  moonless  night  the  British 
government  is  able  through  its  agents  to  deal  with  the  tliree  hun- 
dred miUions  of  people  in  India!  We  have  been  nineteen  hundred 
years  in  reaching  only  a  fraction  of  them.  Here  we  have  among 
these  three  hundred  millions  the  materials  for  the  most  colossal 
conflagration  that  there  has  ever  been.  Nowhere  in  the  world  has 
there  been  any  reHgious  intensity  like  this  of  India.  Many  of  you  saw 
with  amazement  and  awe  those  pictures  that  were  published  in  the 
National  Geographical  Magazine  only  a  little  while  ago  of  the  fakirs 
and  holy  men  of  India.  Well,  gentlemen,  you  cannot  smile  at  and 
deride  the  religious  enthusiasms  of  a  race  which  will  find  expression 
like  this,  where  men  will  lift  up  their  arms  till  they  atrophy,  where 
men  will  lay  themselves  in  fires,  or  on  spikes  for  long  years  at  a 
time — where  they  smile  at  physical  pain  and  suffering,  and  starve 
themselves  for  the  sake  of  inner  illumination,  or  for  whatever  else 
you  may  believe  it  to  be.  What  material  there  is  here  for  the  great 
blazing  fires  of  the  Christian  Church,  when  this  long  hunger  for  God 


224  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

is  at  last  satisfied  with  the  only  bread!  When  the  long  thirst  is 
quenched  with  the  drink  that  came  down  in  the  blood  of  Christ  out 
of  heaven!  I  say  again,  nowhere  in  the  world  are  there  materials 
for  such  a  conflagration  as  we  see  laid  ready  to  our  hand  in  India 
to-day.  Nowhere  is  there  a  non-Christian  land  where  the  great 
ideas  of  Christianity  have  penetrated  as  they  have  in  India;  no- 
where a  land  where  Christianity  has  cut  down  the  hidden  fabric 
of  life.  I  read  a  little  while  ago  a  book  by  a  missionary  named  John 
Morrison,  entitled  "New  Ideas  in  India,"  in  which  he  compares  the 
ideas  of  the  Indian  people  100  years  ago  with  the  ideas  of  India 
to-day,  and  shows  that  the  man  of  that  day,  should  he  awake  to-day, 
would  find  himself  in  an  absolutely  different  world;  and  how  the 
young  men  of  India  to-day  are  breathing  an  air  which  they  think  is 
the  traditional  air  of  India,  but  which  has  been  pervaded  through 
and  through  by  the  influence  of  Christ.  It  is  a  community  which  is 
being  honeycombed,  made  ready  for  the  most  colossal  Christian 
movement  of  all  time.  What  we  were  threatened  with  in  China  last 
year,  when  it  looked  for  a  little  while  as  if  a  whole  race  was  going 
to  landslide  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  we  shall  see  in  a  yet  more 
marvelous  form  within  the  next  two  or  three  decades  in  India.  Here 
is  material  ready  for  a  great  social  avalanche.  There  are  fifty  mil- 
lions, as  you  know,  of  the  outcast  people  in  India,  who  are  really  ex- 
cluded from  society,  who  have  had  no  share  in  Indian  privilege,  who 
have  been  outside  the  pale  of  Indian  life.  To  these  fifty  millions 
Christ  has  come,  with  what  result?  Within  the  last  ten  years  the 
Christian  population  of  the  Punjab  alone  has  increased  three  hun- 
dred per  cent.  I  was  reading  only  to-day  an  editorial  in  the  Alla- 
habad 'Tioneer,"  the  leading  British  paper  in  Northern  India,  a 
rather  anti-missionary  paper,  on  the  results  which  the  last  census 
showed  Christianity  had  achieved  in  India  in  the  years  between  1901 
and  1911,  and  even  the  'Tioneer"  had  to  confess  that  something 
amazing  had  begun,  and  that  what  had  gone  on  for  the  last  ten  years 
was  going  on  with  steady  accumulation  of  power.  It  is  no  un- 
reasonable expectation  that  within  the  lifetime  of  men  now  living- 
Christianity  will  become  the  dominant  faith  of  India.  Think  of 
what  it  would  mean  to  turn  loose  across  the  world,  to  bear  the  mes- 
sage of  Christ,  a  nation  of  men  who  have  made  sacrifices  such 
as  these  men  have  made  through  their  old  darkness  and  who  v/ill 
lift  those  sacrifices  to  the  level  of  Christ. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  225 

In  the  fourth  place  a  new  opportunity  and  need  confronts  us 
in  the  Mohammedan  world — among  two  hundred  millions  of  peo- 
ple who  have  constituted  the  greatest  drag  on  humanity  of  any  peo- 
ple in  the  world.  Why  has  it  been  necessary  for  Christianity  to 
travel  westward  across  the  world  with  a  motion  as  if  following  the 
sun  and  the  natural  movement  of  life?  Did  you  ever  stop  to  think 
why  really  human  progress  had  had  to  move  westward?  It  was 
because  of  Mohammedanism.  Mohammedanism  in  the  seventeenth 
century  built  itself  a  great  dead,  non-communicating  wall  across  the 
world.  Mohammedanism  is  responsible  for  having  severed  man- 
kind. In  the  old  days  before  Islam  arose  there  was  no  East  sepa- 
rated from  the  West,  as  to-day ;  there  was  no  such  racial  chasm  as 
to-day  between  Asia  and  Europe;  there  was  no  bitterness  between 
the  eastern  and  western ;  the  paths  of  the  world  ran  uninterruptedly 
eastward  and  westward.  Alexander  was  at  home  in  Persia  as  he 
had  been  in  ^Macedonia.  Christianity  passed  across  into  India  and 
permanently  shaped  the  institutions  of  Buddhism.  What  was  the 
influence  that  suddenly  changed  the  whole  character  of  the  world? 
What  broke  it  in  two  and  built  a  great  barrier  through  which  neither 
light  nor  truth  could  pass  across  the  world  ?  Why,  nothing  but  the 
fossilizing  institution  of  Mohammedanism,  that  arose  in  the  seventh 
century  to  divide  and  deaden  mankind ;  to  divide  and  deaden  man- 
kind I  say  deliberately;  for  it  laid  its  weight  most  crushingly  upon 
the  least  offensive  classes  from  whom  always  most  is  to  be  ex- 
pected and  drawn.  It  was  not  man  on  whom  Alohammedanism  came 
down  with  its  burden ;  it  was  on  the  woman  and  the  child.  And 
just  as  no  nation  can  move  forward  that  degrades  and  shackles  its 
woman's  life  or  handicaps  the  life  of  the  child,  so  Islam,  wherever 
it  went,  ruined  the  life  of  the  community;  wherever  it  went  it 
either  found  a  desert  or  made  one.  You  can  hardly  think  of  a  great 
waste  area  to-day  over  which  Mohammedanism  does  not  rule.  I 
have  ridden  across  the  great  plains  of  Mesopatamia  that  once  were 
garden  spots  of  the  world,  and  have  seen  there  the  wide  dreary 
waste.  Palestine  was  once  a  garden,  rich  and  fertile.  What  wasted 
these  lands?    Islam. 

And  now  at  last  crevices  have  begun  to  open  in  the  great  wall. 
Little  by  little,  twelve  hundred  years  long  though  it  has  stood,  it 
has  begun  to  disintegrate.  If  there  is  one  challenge  that  ought  to 
come  home  to  the  hearts  of  Christian  men,  it  is  the  challenge  of 


226  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

Christ  to  go  up  against  the  vast  decaying  strongholds  of  Moham- 
medanism. Here  is  one  rehgion,  the  only  religion  in  the  world  that 
knows  Christ  and  has  reckoned  with  him  and  has  cast  him  out. 
Surely  the  time  has  come  for  us  no  longer  to  com.pel  our  Lord  to 
suffer  the  shame  of  such  misunderstanding. 

Yet  once  again  think  of  this  new  need  and  opportunity  that  arise 
in  the  lan^s  to  the  south  of  us.  Looking  at  that  great  map  hanging 
up  over  in  the  church  to-day,  and  the  red  lines  that  ran  out  from  the 
United  Brethren  Church  at  home  to  the  non-Christian  world,  I 
noticed  a  line  than  ran  south  as  far  as  Porto  Rico.  There  was  no 
red  line,  was  there,  running  down  into  South  America  ?  I  say  again, 
as  I  said  in  the  beginning,  if  Christian  men  ever  were  called  upon  to 
face  their  practical  duty  to  make  Jesus  Christ  really  dominant  in 
the  life  of  the  world,  that  time  is  to-day,  and  that  obligation  lies  upon 
every  Christian  body  among  us  with  regard  to  these  great  lands  that 
lie  just  at  our  door.  Nowhere  in  the  world  are  there  nations  that 
need  character  more  than  they  need  it.  I  went  down  the  east  coast 
and  up  the  west  coast  just  a  little  while  ago,  the  whole  length  of 
South  America.  I  don't  think  you  can  find  anywhere  on  the  west 
coast  a  great  bank  or  large  commercial  institution,  a  great  business 
of  any  kind,  which  South  Americans  are  willing  to  manage  them- 
selves or  to  entrust  to  their  own  people.  In  ever}^  steamship  com- 
pany, in  every  great  bank,  in  every  commercial  institution  of  any 
importance  you  will  find  that  there  was  somewhere  a  man  of  char- 
acter and  capacity  whom  they  had  to  bring  from  some  Protestant 
land.  Yet  capacity  is  there.  Nowhere  in  the  world  are  there  more 
lovable  peoples  than  those  people.  Toward  those  peoples,  if  toward 
anybody  in  the  world,  our  sense  of  obligation  should  go  out.  We  are 
reaping  now  the  harvest  of  our  long  neglect  of  that  obligation.  Sup- 
pose that  when  Maximilian  had  fallen,  when  the  foreign  grip  that 
was  on  the  throne  of  Mexico  had  been  relaxed  and  the  heart  of 
Mexico  turned  in  friendliness  to  us,  in  spite  of  the  old  opprobrium  of 
our  Mexican  War,  suppose  we  had  said  to  Mexico :  ''Here,  God  has 
made  us  neighbors ;  neighbors  we  must  be  forever.  Your  need  is 
great  and  we  are  strong;  will  you  take  a  brother's  help  from  us?" 
Suppose  we  had  aided  them  in  their  public  school  system  fifty  years 
ago,  during  these  fifty  years  with  a  brother's  kindness  and  friendship 
had  led  Mexico  along  the  ways  of  education  and  intelligence,  would 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  227 

these  shadows  be  upon  us  now  ?  and  I  tell  you  there  will  be  darker 
things  ahead  of  us  if  we  allow  these  obligations  still  to  go  unmet. 

And  when  in  the  history  of  our  own  land  have  we  had  such 
opportunities  as  to-day?  Not  even  after  the  Civil  War,  when  the 
tides  of  moral  purpose  and  energy  seemed  to  be  in  full  flood.  God 
has  pushed  out  the  walls  of  our  national  duty  so  that  we  can  no 
longer  isolate  ourselves  from  any  of  the  life  of  humanity  and  lest 
we  should  still  try  to  do  so,  he  has  thrown  in  upon  us  w^ave  after 
wave  of  racial  accretion  from  Europe  as  though  he  would  say  to 
any  who  were  seeking  to  be  content  with  small  horizons  and  con- 
stricted duty,  "Never;  take  these  and  go  down  with  them  or  light 
them  up."  Economic  problems  press  on  us  for  moral  solution  and 
the  very  issues  which  were  supposed  to  be  settled  by  the  documents 
of  the  nation's  establishment  have  arisen  with  new  insistence  to 
test  the  reality  of  all  our  most  cherished  political  principles.  Great 
evils  which  sap  the  economic  effectiveness  of  the  land  and  claim 
the  vested  right  of  perpetual  devastation  have  reached  the  limits  of 
endurance  and  the  very  hfe  of  the  nation  calls  for  their  destruction. 
A  vast  network  of  social,  racial,  moral  problems  surrounds  us  and 
furnishes  as  loud  a  call  and  as  splendid  an  opportunity  for  the  re- 
deeming work  of  the  gospel  as  can  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world. 

We  look  out  thus  on  the  world's  unequaled  need  and  opportunity 
to-day,  a  world  that  calls  for  what  we  can  give  to  the  regeneration 
of  the  nations ;  a  world  that  calls  for  what  we  can  give  to  heal  the 
problem  of  racial  discord,  bitterness  and  hate;  a  world  that  is  call- 
ing unconsciously  for  Christ,  and  that  is  itself  Christ  calling;  for 
after  all  what  is  this  need  of  the  world  except  the  need  of  Christ 
as  well  ?  How  many  times  we  long  to  know  where  we  can  find  him ; 
how  many  times  have  our  hearts  yearned  back  across  the  centuries 
to  the  days  when  he  was  here  upon  the  earth,  and  desired  that  we 
might  have  walked  with  him  then  and  ministered  to  him  then,  and 
have  heard  his  own  voice  of  grateful  love  speaking  to  us  then.  Well, 
my  friends,  we  do  not  need  to  look  away  to  Palestine,  or  back  over 
nineteen  hundred  years  of  time  to  find  him.  In  all  the  hunger  of  the 
world,  he  is  an  hungered ;  in  all  the  thirst  of  the  world  he  is  athirst ; 
in  all  the  need  of  the  world  he  is  in  need.  In  all  the  appeals  of  the 
world  it  is  his  voice  that  is  speaking  to  us.  Looking  at  it  so,  seeing 
his  face  looking  up  at  us  out  of  China's  need,  Japan's  need,  India's 
need,   Islam's  need,   Latin  America's  need,  our  own  native  need, 


228  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

I  ask  you  again  as  at  the  beginning,  Is  the  effort  that  we  are  making 
now  actually  to  give  him  dominance  in  all  the  life  of  the  world  an 
adequate  effort?  What  will  make  it  adequate?  A  true  Christian 
leadership  when  it  can  be  found  ?  When  will  it  be  found  ?  Will  the 
day  never  come  when  some  Christian  Church  will  arise  to  lead  all 
the  rest  in  a  real  and  efficient  effort  to  win  the  world  to  its  Lord 
and  Savior?    Why  should  not  your  Church  do  that  now? 

There  are  multitudes  waiting  to  follow  the  men  who  will  lead 
them  in  an  effort  to  make  Christ  sovereign  over  the  world's  life. 
You  remember  the  incident  in  one  of  Napoleon's  great  battles  when 
the  tide  had  gone  against  him  and  he  turned  to  a  drummer  boy  at 
his  side  and  said,  ''Boy,  beat  me  a  retreat."  And  tradition  says  the 
lad  looked  up  in  his  face  and  said :  "Sire,  I  know  not  how,  De  Saix 
never  taught  me  to  beat  a  retreat ;  but  I  can  beat  a  charge  that  will 
make  the  dead  fall  into  line ;  I  beat  that  charge  at  the  Pyramids ;  I 
beat  it  at  Lodi ;  let  me  beat  it  now."  And  without  waiting  for  the 
word  he  beat  his  charge  and  over  the  dead  and  the  wounded,  over 
the  breastworks  and  battery  men,  he  led  the  way  to  victory. 

When  will  the  day  come  when  some  Church  will  arise  which 
has  never  been  taught  to  beat  a  retreat,  but  which  will  beat  a 
charge  which  will  make  the  dead  of  Christ's  great  company  fall 
into  line  and  over  China  and  Africa  and  India  and  all  the  islands  of 
the  sea  and  lands  of  the  earth  lead  the  army,  that  can,  when  it  will, 
to  victory. 


FACING  THE  NEW  CENTURY 

BY   WILLIAM    M.   BELL 

My  mind  reverted,  as  I  thought  of  this  last  service,  to  a  pas- 
sage of  Scripture  which  some  of  us  have  made  use  of  since  we  have 
been  in  Dayton.  'Tor  we  know  that  the  whole  creation  is  groaning 
together  in  the  pains  of  childbirth  unto  this  hour."  What  a  de- 
scription that  is  of  the  social,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  condi- 
tion of  the  race!  "And  more  than  that,  we  ourselves,  though  we 
possess  the  Spirit,  as  a  foretaste  and  pledge  of  the  glorious  future, 
yet  we  ourselves  inwardly  sigh  as  we  wait  and  long  for  better  recog- 
nition as  sons  through  deliverance  of  our  bodies.  ...  In  the 
same  way  the  Spirit  always  helps  us  in  our  weaknesses,  though  we 


Oitr  Men  and  Their  Task  229 

do  not  know  what  prayers  to  offer  nor  in  what  way  to  offer  them. 
But  the  Spirit,  himself,  pleads  for  us  in  yearnings  that  can  find  no 
words,  and  the  searcher  himself  knows  what  the  Spirit's  meaning 
is;  because  his  interests  for  God's  people  are  in  harmony  with 
God's  will." 

The  last  paragraph  I  wish  to  read  is  one  of  confidence  in 
a  far-off,  divine  event.  ''Now  we  know  that  for  those  who  love 
God  all  things  are  working  together  for  good;  for  those,  I  mean, 
whom  with  deliberate  purpose  he  hath  called;  for  those  whom  he 
has  known  before  hand,  he  has  also  predestined  to  bear  the  like- 
ness of  his  Son,  that  he  might  be  the  eldest  in  the  vast  family  of 
brothers;  and  those  whom  he  has  predestined,  he  also  has  called, 
and  those  whom  he  has  called  he  has  also  declared  free  from  guilt. 
And  those  whom  he  has  declared  free  from  guilt,  he  has  also 
crowned  with  glory." 

Personally  your  speaker  has  had  a  great  sigh  in  his  heart  all 
the  day.  That  is  to  say,  I  have  joined  a  lot  of  kindred  spirits  in  a 
groan  inwardly,  with  the  intent  that  God  might  grip  every  man  of 
us,  and  that  he  might  come  to  us  in  a  specific  and  divine  way  and 
set  us  forward,  so  that  we  can  never  be  the  same  again,  living  in  the 
same  levels  that  we  have  occupied  before.  I  wish  that  God  would 
make  it  absolutely  impossible  for  any  man  of  us  to  find  his  old  tracks 
after  to-night.  And  that  can  be  so.  It  is  in  the  divine  will  that  it 
shall  be  so.  And  if  we  shall  grip  that  truth  and  allow  the  faith  that 
we  have  in  Christ  to  apprehend  Christ  in  making  that  truth  real 
to  us  here  to-night,  there  can  be  no  question  but  what  we  have 
just  heard  announced  in  this  statement  will  be  a  glad  and  sweet 
realization.  So,  men,  let  us  close  ranks  to-night  at  the  throne  of 
grace  and  join  with  the  great  Intercessor  to  whom  reference  was 
made  to-night,  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  he  is  here.  Whoever  else  has 
failed  these  days,  he  has  not ;  blessed  be  God !  He  never  does.  His 
marvelous  ministry  to  the  church  is  based  on  the  offering  of  our 
immaculate  Lord ;  and  you  can  count  upon  it  that  the  ministry  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  always  patiently,  thoroughly  manifest.  You  and 
I  are  fluctuating  quantities.  We  do  not  understand  ourselves.  We 
do  not  understand  one  another.  It  takes  the  Holy  Spirit  to  know 
us.  He  knows  us  better  than  we  know  ourselves,  and  he  knows  us 
better  than  any  of  our  friends  know  us.  And  so,  men,  let  us  com- 
fort our  hearts  in  him  to-night;  let  us  get  so  close  to  him  that  all 


230  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

that  was  involved  in  Calvary  and  all  that  was  reflected  in  Pentecost 
may  come  spiritually  and  wonderfully  and  gloriously  into  our  lives 
in  the  next  few  minutes. 

You  know,  men,  I  am  coming  to  feel,  somehow  or  other,  that 
we  have  by  a  strange  art  of  blundering  robbed  our  great  Church 
and  our  great  faith  of  some  measure  of  its  sober  reaHzation ;  and 
the  heart  of  your  speaker  longs  profoundly  and  constantly  that  we 
might  know  that,  after  all,  one  supreme  need  of  all  our  hearts,  one 
supreme  need  of  all  our  ministries,  one  supreme  need  of  all  our 
churches,  is  just  God — in  the  superior,  final,  and  full  richness  of  his 
great  character  in  the  program  which  he  has  prescribed. 

Now,  we  very  naturally  raise  the  question  to-night  as  to  how 
we  can  conserve  this  occasion?  For  what  God  is  to  do  through 
this  occasion  is  to  be  determined  by  the  personal  equation  that  we 
have  formed  between  Almighty  God  and  this  occasion  and  all  sub- 
sequent time.  Isn't  that  clear?  You  and  I,  as  individual,  personal 
units,  afford  a  personal,  human  equation,  that  is  to  determine  what 
is  to  be  the  outcome  of  these  days  of  conference.  We  absolutely 
stand  between  God  and  the  ministry  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  what 
is  to  be  reflected  for  these  days  to  come  and  for  all  the  rest  of  our 
lives  from  this  meeting.  Let  us  face  that  fact  to-night,  and  pour 
out  our  hearts  in  prayer,  in  a  great,  closing  prayer,  that  the  Lord 
God  may  just  come  to  us  now  and  deal  with  us  in  a  very  adequate 
and  final  way.  I  am  ready  for  the  mourner's  bench.  Ask  me  to 
the  mercy  seat  to-night,  and  I  will  go ;  I  should  be  glad  to  go.  The 
Lord  Christ  is  here.  To  be  in  his  presence  is  to  have  a  life  of  un- 
explainable  richness ;  and  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted 
and  he  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased. 

Now,  stop  a  moment.  God,  in  the  service  of  this  Congress,  is 
going  to  depend  upon  us,  and  the  Lord  himself  has  indicated  a 
method  for  the  conservation  of  such  days  as  these.  May  we  find 
it  wherever  we  are.  Christ  Jesus  raised  from  the  dead  is  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  humanity.  I  have  been  fond  of  that  statement 
in  the  recent  past — extremely  fond  of  it — Christ  Jesus  raised  from 
the  dead  is  the  beginning  of  a  new  humanity.  He  is  the  beginning 
of  such  a  humanity  as  embodies  God's  ideal  of  what  we  may  be 
and  what  we  ought  to  be.  So  we  will  go  right  on  with  that  to-night. 
God  has  given  Christ,  made  over  all  things  to  the  church,  which  is 
his  body.     Christ  is  our  glorious,  rich  inheritance,  as  well  as  our 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  231 

imperial   and   blessed   Leader,   the   reincarnated,   instilled,   regnant 
life  of  God  in  the  constitution  of  mankind. 

It  is  the  plan  of  God  to  make  the  race  a  mighty  organization 
for  the  habitation  of  himself — a  house  in  which  he  is  to  live  and 
that  grows  more  marvelous  every  day.  Our  great  Creator  still  is 
creating.  We  do  not  know  what  he  is  doing  in  the  realms  of 
nebulous  star  dust.  Nobody  knows.  The  astronomers  scale  the 
heavens  and  form  an  idea  that  yonder  in  the  distance  he  is  work- 
ing at  his  great  plans,  and  possibly  in  the  expression  of  his  thought 
worlds  are  being  flung  from  his  fingers  like  flashes  of  electric  fire. 

But  that  is  speculative.  Whatever  God  may  be  doing  in  the 
universe  is  beyond  our  ken.  We  know  that  he  is  creating  a  new 
race,  that  God  is  at  work  with  the  race  to-night.  He  has  done 
great  things  in  setting  before  us  great  ideals,  stimulating  us,  bring- 
ing us  into  larger  fellowship  with  himself,  into  finer  fellowship 
with  one  another.  He  continues  to  create,  and  it  is  in  the  realm  of 
human  personality,  in  the  realm  of  human  character.  That  is  his 
job  to-day,  so  far  as  this  race  is  concerned — to  get  into  human 
character,  human  personality;  to  reflect  his  own  character,  repro- 
duce his  own  moral  likeness,  realize  that  likeness  in  social  problems 
in  this  intricate  day.  Doesn't  that  mean  mastery  and  doesn't  that 
mean  the  solution  of  our  problems  ?  Doesn't  it  mean  that  it  shall  be 
done  with  a  grace  and  with  a  fullness  of  power  of  which  no  human 
mind  has  any  conception? 

In  the  spring  the  frozen  north  gives  up  its  store  and  the  rush- 
ing waters  of  spring  are  released  and  nature,  revived  by  the  mighty 
power  of  the  sun,  opens  its  heart  to  the  steady  life,  to  the  mighty 
instincts  of  the  natural  forces — God  begins  to  release  his  great, 
fresh,  regnant  life  into  the  natural  processes.  Gentlemen,  something 
like  that  is  the  plan  of  God  for  us  in  this  last  hour.  I  am  not  nearly 
as  afraid  as  some  people  are  of  preaching  to  the  man  that  has  been 
converted ;  he  needs  another  dip.  I  don't  think  we  look  as  if  we  are 
finished  folks.  The  only  fellow  that  is  finished  is  the  fellow  that 
is  in  his  coflin,  and  we  are  a  long  way  this  side  of  that  to-night,  I 
hope.  Remember,  God  is  not  done  with  us.  I  am  growing  increas- 
mgly  fond  of  preaching  to  church  folks.  God  has  a  great  big  need 
of  getting  us  into  a  higher  life,  a  finer  insight  of  life,  after  we  have 
started  on  this  zealous  work  of  undertaking  to  be  like  Jesus  Christ. 


232  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

So,  in  the  same  way,  without  any  extravagance,  without  any- 
thing that  is  erratic,  without  anything  that  is  flamboyant,  without 
anything  that  is  a  display  of  mere  reUgious  prejudice  or  bigotry,  let 
us  stand  forward  to-night  as  United  Brethren  men  and  open  our 
hearts  to  God,  with  a  fresh  appeal  to  God  for  a  better  personal  char- 
acter. We  are  going  to  ask  him  to  help  us  in  this  great  work  in  a 
specific  way,  on  this  night  of  May.  Let  us  go  up  and  claim  our 
share  in  the  power ;  let  us  get  our  glorious  portion  of  the  inheritance. 

God  has  a  claim  on  every  one  of  us;  a  claim  from  beginning 
to  end,  from  now  to  the  crack  of  doom.  That  after  all  is  the  main 
thing,  and  it  seems  to  me  our  Lord  would  have  us  be  thinking  about 
that  in  these  final  hours.  These  new  spiritual  creations  are  the  sons 
of  God.  God  is  making  sons  and  he  makes  them  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Your  Lord  and  mine  is  a  typical  man,  and  into  his  likeness  God 
would  have  me  come  and  God  would  have  you  come.  Aren't  we 
hungry  to  be  like  him  to-night?  One  of  these  days,  we  say,  we 
shall  be  like  him.  We  expect  to  sw^eep  up  through  the  pearly  gates, 
and  when  the  icy  touch  of  death  shall  come  and  our  friends  are 
gathered  about,  and  our  ears  are  growing  mufiled  and  dull,  and  the 
pulse  is  still  and  the  blood  is  chill,  we  say  we  shall  be  like  him ;  for 
we  shall  see  him  as  he  is. 

Your  speaker  believes  that  there  are  two  plain  movements  on 
to-day,  as  we  face  the  immediate  future.  Here  is  what  is  on.  We 
are  calling  into  existence  a  new  humanity,  and  that  is  the  body  of 
Christ — the  men  and  v/omen  who  are  vitalized  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  who  are  not  afraid  to  dedicate  their  lives  in  fidelity  to  him.  That 
is  one  alignment  that  is  going  on  rapidly  and  splendidly  throughout 
the  world.  And  another  is  the  anti-Qirist,  or  a  unified,  secular 
humanity,  making  spiritual  religion  entirely  abnormal,  as  well  as 
the  new  birth  and  all  religious  processes;  omitting  all  emphasis 
upon  spiritual  recreation  and  power  and  Divine  sonship,  considering 
it  all  a  normal  enjoyment  with  which  all  men  start  in  the  world ;  and 
that  all  we  need  to  do  is  to  harness  a  man  up  to  a  few  ethical  ideals 
and  set  him  going  and  wings  will  soon  be  sprouted  on  both  of  his 
arms. 

Now,  1  must  not  go  ahead  with  anything  like  an  effort  of  speak- 
ing systematically,  though  I  am  fond  of  doing  that  sort  of  thing. 
But  i  have  in  my  heart  now  to  ask  that  we  shall  confine  ourselves 
to  two  or  three  very  simple  propositions.    Let  us  take  an  inventory 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  233 

to-night.  Where  am  I  in  relationship  to  my  own  objectives?  Where 
am  I  in  relationship  to  my  own  ideals  ?  Where  am  I  in  relationship 
to  my  own  Lord  ?  Can  we  all  settle  that  in  the  next  few  minutes  ?  I 
hope  we  can.  And  then  I  want  us  to  settle  another  thing;  I  want 
us  to  determine  here  to-night  what  is  the  specific  will  of  God,  which 
up  to  this  time  may  not  have  come  into  our  lives  fully  at  all,  and 
which  by  some  strange  infatuation  of  unbelief  and  doubt,  has 
robbed  us  of  sweet  communion  and  fellowship  with  our  Lord.  Don't 
you  want  that  to-night? 

Let  us  all  repent  to-night;  every  man  of  us  repent.  What  do 
you  say?  Every  man  of  us  in  this  U.  B.  church  should  certainly 
repent  to-night.  I  am  talking  to  myself  about  it.  I  am  talking  to  all 
of  us  about  it.  I  certainly  feel  the  need  of  it.  You  say,  "Why,  sir, 
do  you  bring  such  a  message  as  this  in  the  closing  hour  ?"  We  are 
facing  a  new  century  of  conquest  in  the  history  of  this  denomina- 
tion. I  want  to  stop  to  repent,  not  as  sinners  repent,  who  have  not 
been  regenerated,  not  as  men  who  have  not  begun  the  Christian 
life,  but  as  men  and  women  who  have  been  inadequately  good — 
inadequateb'  good — that  expression  exactly  fits  my  thoughts  in 
these  days.  There  are  thousands  and  thousands  of  church  mem- 
bers of  the  United  Brethren  Church  who  are  not  doing  anything  in 
the  great  big  jobs  that  have  been  brought  before  us  in  these  days. 
That  indicates  the  need  that  there  should  be  preached  throughout 
the  United  Brethren  Church  everywhere  the  doctrine  of 
repentance  for  church  people.  And  let  us  do  a  good  job  of  it 
here  to-night.  Because  if  this  thing  breaks  out  with  you  before 
you  get  away  from  Dayton,  the  people  will  find  it  out  on  your 
way  to  your  homes,  and  it  will  be  as  contagious  as  the  smallpox. 
I  will  tell  you ;  the  preacher  who  repents  now,  and  then  digs  down 
into  the  foundation  of  his  faith  and  goes  more  fully  and  thor- 
oughly into  the  business  of  becoming  Christlike,  that  man  will  find 
power  and  conviction  coming  into  the  hearts  of  the  people  with 
whom  he  lives,  just  as  sure  as  God  is  in  heaven.  I  say,  men,  let  us 
repent  to-night,  because  we  want  to  make  a  great  vacuum  here  to- 
night, into  which  God  himself  can  come.  Let  us  make  a  large  place 
for  him,  and  the  way  to  do  that  is  to  say,  "Lord,  God,  I  am  not 
worthy ;  I  have  erred ;  I  have  been  inadequately  good,  and  I  want  to 
tell  of  mv  heart's  condition.     I  want  to  ask  you  to  reveal  yourself 


234  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

to  me  now,  and  I  want  to  ask  you  to  deal  with  me  now  in  a 
very  personal  way." 

We  are  here  to-night  for  a  larger  enjoyment  and  a  fuller 
life,  and  I  am  going  to  ask  every  one  of  you  who  would  like  ta 
make  the  Holy  Spirit  a  very  benediction  to  your  heart  and  who  will 
consecrate  himself  to  him  more  than  you  have  ever  in  your  past,  to 
come  forward.  If  you  are  willing  to  recognize  that  you  have 
been  inadequately  good,  however  good  you  may  have  been,  come 
forward  and  gather  here,  just  as  many  of  you  as  can.  We  are 
going  to  pray  about  it.  If  there  are  any  men  who  want  to  meet  me 
here  come  right  away.    Kneel  at  the  railing  here  if  you  wish. 

During  the  exhortation  of  Bishop  Bell  men  came  forward 
from  all  parts  of  the  audience  and  knelt  about  the  altar  and  filled 
the  aisles  and  joined  in  prayer  for  a  pentecostal  blessing.  One 
after  another  prayed,  and  frequently  several  were  praying  at  once. 
Finally,  Bishop  Bell  closed  with  a  powerful  prayer,  following  which 
was  held  a  love  feast,  participated  in  by  many. 


ONE  FIXED  PURPOSE  TO  ACCOMPLISH  THE  TASK 

BY   S.   S.    HOUGH 

Let  us  open  our  hearts  wide  toward  God  and  pray  that  the 
closing  moments  of  this  Congress  may  be  such  as  shall  enable  God 
to  make  the  vision,  the  opportunity,  and  the  way  of  advance  clear 
to  every  one  of  us. 

We  have  seen  during  these  days  that  Jesus  Christ  is  our  all 
sufficient  Lord.  The  marvelous  achievements  of  Christian  men 
working  as  stewards  with  Christ  during  the  last  one  hundred  years 
have  passed  before  us.  We  have  seen  the  unmatched  opportunity 
of  this  hour  to  make  Christ  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  in  all 
lands. 

The  distinct  responsibility  of  the  United  Brethren  Church  to 
evangelize  its  share  of  America  and  the  non-Christian  lands  has 
been  shown  us.  We  must  double  and  quadruple  our  activities  and 
gifts  to  meet  our  exceptional  opportunity  and  responsibility,  or  we 
shall  stand  condemned  before  the  vision  and  open  doors. 

We  have  seen  that  half  of  our  entire  membership  in  America 
is  not  yet  awakened  and  enlisted  as  co-workers  with  Christ,  and 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  235 

that  these  unenlisted  ones  are  the  chief  weakness  of  our  churches. 
We  have  seen  the  need  of  such  a  movement  for  the  evangeHzation 
of  the  world  as  shall  call  the  whole  constituency  into  action,  and 
thus  not  only  save  the  churches  from  stagnation,  commercialism^ 
and  self-indulgence,  but  in  the  current  of  the  advance  every  Chris- 
tian may  discover  his  possibilities. 

For  the  first  time  in  our  history  our  entire  denomination,  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  has  been  brought  face  to  face  with  our 
great,  united  work  for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
America  and  in  our  foreign  fields.  We  have  already  introduced  a 
unified,  educational  period  in  our  annual  conference  sessions.  We 
have  seen  in  this  Congress  the  great  importance  of  a  thorough-going 
inspirational,  educational  campaign  for  every  local  church,  that  all 
our  people  may  be  awakened  and  enlisted  to  pray  and  to  give,  week 
by  week,  for  the  universal  spread  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

This  Congress  is  the  next  logical  step  in  the  onward  sweep  of 
the  kingdom.  We  have  had  years  of  training  in  mission  study  for 
the  young  people,  missionary  education  in  the  Sunday  school,  and 
those  thus  instructed  have  come  into  responsible  activities  in  the 
churches.  The  separate  appeals  of  the  various  boards  in  the  past 
for  definite  offerings  have  given  proper  emphasis  to  the  needs  of 
each  department,  and  prepared  the  way  for  this  unified  plan  of 
missionary  education  and  v/eekly  giving  on  the  apportionment  plan 
adopted  by  our  last  General  Conference.  But  let  no  one  imagine 
that  the  budget  system  or  the  apportionment  plan  and  the  every- 
member  canvass  for  funds  will  in  themselves  solve  the  problem  of 
getting  the  money  and  reinforcements  needed  to  meet  the  present 
extraordinary  situation. 

It  has  been  clearly  shown  by  this  Congress  that  our  supreme 
need  is  that  of  Christian  leadership — leadership  in  the  local  churches 
that  shall  set  before  the  Church  adequate  tasks  and  give  the  in- 
formation and  inspiration  and  method  of  advance  to  reach  the  goal. 
To  have  such  leadership  in  the  local  church  we  must  have  it  in  the 
ministry  and  in  the  church  at  large. 

We  have  just  adopted  an  inspiring  policy  and  program  as  we 
face  the  second  century  since  the  death  of  Otterbein.  Now,  then^ 
do  it.  The  end  of  the  Congress  is  but  the  beginning  of  the  enter- 
prise. 


236  .  Oiir  Men  and  Their  Task 

If  I  mistake  not,  this  is  a  pivotal  point  in  our  denominational 
life.  The  past  speaks  to  us  to  go  forward.  The  present  challenges 
us  to  heroic  deeds.  The  future  is  full  of  promise  for  the  Church 
that  will  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God. 

HOW   ACCOMPLISH    OUR  TASKS 

First.  Every  delegate  present  must  feel  a  personal  respon- 
sibility tu  give  to  those  in  our  church  from  which  we  have  come, 
the  inspiration  and  policy  of  this  Congress.  Freely  we  have  re- 
ceived, freely  let  us  give. 

The  vast  number  of  unenlisted  members  should  bring  a  tre- 
mendous challenge  to  every  one  of  us,  for  we  cannot  pray  with 
confidence  for  God  to  add  new  converts  to  our  churches  when  they 
are  full  of  unenlisted,  selfish  members.  Not  too  much  emphasis  has 
been  put  upon  the  saving  of  men,  but  ten  times  too  little  emphasis 
has  hitherto  been  given  to  directing  those  who  are  saved  to  become 
co-workers  with  Christ  in  saving  the  rest  of  the  world.  Llany  have 
stopped  w4th  conversion  instead  of  walking  on  by  faith  in  partner- 
ship with  Christ  to  save  others.  This  Congress  should  fire  every 
one  of  us  to  stand  for  such  personal  eft'ort,  wise  planning,  and  con- 
stant intercession  as  shall  lead  every  local  church  here  represented 
into  definite  action  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  things  agreed 
upon. 

The  time  for  action  has  come.  We  have  heard  the  calls  from 
abroad  to  evangelize  our  five  million,  and  our  response  has  been 
utterly  inadequate.'  We  have  heard  the  calls  for  reinforcements  in 
our  home  fields  when  the  board  has  been  compelled  to  order  a 
retrenchment.  How  much  longer  shall  we  halt  in  this  time  of 
opportunity  ?  The  most  testing  challenge  to  the  genuineness  of  the 
spiritual  life  and  leadership  of  our  denomination  is  now  before  us. 

Second.  But  not  one  local  church  in  ten  in  the  denomination 
is  represented  in  this  Congress,  ^^^hat  can  be  done  for  churches 
not  represented  here?  Will  not  the  conference  superintendents, 
Bishops,  and  general  officers  plan  to  reproduce  the  vision,  inspira- 
tion, and  the  method  of  this  Congress  in  the  approaching  annual 
conference  sessions?  Is  not  the  time  here  when  we  should  give 
more  emphasis  to  a  constructive  institute  period  at  our  annual  con- 
ferences, where  we  have  present  all  the  pastors  and  at  least  one 
layman  from  each  charge?  Every  delegate  in  this  Congress  should 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  237 

t 
be  ready  to  take  his  part  in  making  the  annual  conference  session 
such  a  definite  uplift  as  shall  give  to  all  the  pastors  and  laymen  the 
vision  and  purpose  of  this  Congress  within  the  next  six  months. 
We  can  do  it  if  we  will. 

Third.  But  we  shall  need  something  more  than  can  be  given 
at  the  annual  conference  periods.  Has  not  the  time  arrived  in  our 
denomination  when  we  should  plan  in  a  most  thorough  manner  for 
summer  training  schools  where  we  can  spend  at  least  one  week  in 
the  training  of  expert  leaders  for  the  local  churches  and  for  the 
Church  at  large. 

Is  not  the  Church  responsible  for  providing  the  agencies  that 
will  develop  leaders  in  the  great  work  of  extending  the  kingdom  of 
God?  Not  many  of  these  should  be  undertaken  at  once,  for  they 
should  be  so  thoroughly  worked  out  and  planned  for  as  to  produce 
the  very  best  results.  One  weakness  of  the  Church  is  the  fact 
that  too  many  conventions  are  held  with  but  little  preparation  for 
them.  Let  us  do  nothing  until  we  are  ready  to  do  in  the  best  pos- 
sible manner. 

Fourth.  We  must  plan  for  the  future  leadership  of  the  Church. 
We  shouM  bring  to  our  colleges  and  theological  seminary  the  spirit 
and  purpose  of  the  living  movements  of  our  times.  The  students 
must  study  not  only  books,  but  they  must  study  the  living,  active 
movements  and  learn  how  to  organize  the  forces  and  relate  teaching 
and  preaching  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  tasks  undertaken.  Our 
schools  must  become  West  Points  in  training  leaders  for  the  work 
of  the  kingdom. 

We  have  seen  the  vision.  We  have  heard  the  call  to  advance. 
Let  every  pastor,  conference  superintendent,  general  officer,  and 
Bishop  march  forward  and  in  Christ's  name  keep  step  until  we  shall 
develop  such  enthusiasm  and  such  momentum  as  shall  enable  us  to 
double  and  quadruple  our  work  for  the  kingdom  within  the  next 
five  years. 

Let  us  pay  the  debt  we  owe  to  the  past  by  doing  our  full  share 
in  the  onward  march  of  the  kingdom  as  we  enter  the  second  century 
since  the  death  of  Philip  William  Otterbein. 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  239 


POLICY. 


We,  the  men  of  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ, 
in  national  congress  assembled  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  May  5-7,  1914, 
earnestly  desiring  to  be  co-workers  in  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth,  do  affirm  the  following  policy: 

1. 

We  recognize  the  great  responsibility  of  our  denomination  for 
carrying  the  bread  of  life  to  hungry  millions  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  we  this  day  consecrate  ourselves  anew  to  the  unfinished  tasks 
of  the  denomination. 

2. 

We  commit  ourselves  to  the  basic  principles  of  Christian 
stezvardship  as  expressed  in  the  Word  of  God  as  the  divine  plan  of 
procedure,  and  that  we  prosecute  a  church-wide  campaign  for  the 
training  of  our  people  in  these  principles. 

3. 

We  believe  that  the  supreme  need  of  our  Church  is  a  trained 
leadership,  both  ministerial  and  lay,  who  shall  be  able  to  develop  the 
latent  resources  of  our  people  in  their  relations  as  stewards  and  co- 
workers with  Christ. 


As  an  aid  in  securing  such  leadership,  we  recommend  that  our 
annual  conference  sessions  be  made  poiverful  institute  periods  in 
which  our  people  shall  receive  the  vision  and  training  necessary  to 
meet  the  present  needs.  We  also  approve  the  holding  of  summer 
conferences  with  a  view  to  the  developing  of  an  expert  leadership. 


240  Our  Men  and  Their  Task 

5. 

We  recognize  the  importance  of  bringing  the  vision,  purpose, 
and  plans  of  this  congress  to  our  educational  institutions  that  the 
future  leadership  of  the  Church  may  be  in  training  for  the  greater 
achievements  just  ahead,  and  we  assure  these  institutions  of  our 
sympathetic,  hearty  co-operation  in  making  them  a  powerful  agency 
in  the  extension  of  the  kingdom. 

6. 

We  view  with  alarm  the  fact  that  so  many  of  our  local  churches 
are  ceasing  to  be  virile  agencies  in  the  winning  of  men  to  Christ, 
and  we  call  the  entire  Church  to  prayer  for  the  awakening  and 
quickening  of  the  evangelistic  passion  which  shall  express  itself  both 
through  personal  evangelism  and  through  the  Sunday  school. 

We  recommend  to  our  local  churches  a  net  annual  increase  of 
ten  per  cent,  in  our  membership  as  a  minimum  achievement,  and  we 
fix  twenty-five  per  cent,  net  increase  as  a  more  fitting  expression  of 
our  responsibility  in  winning  men  to  Qirist. 

7. 
We  heartily  endorse  the  system  of  church  finance  as  enacted 
by  the  last  General  Conference,  which  has  for  its  basic  principle  the 
every-member  canvass  for  a  weekly  subscription  for  both  the  local 
church  and  the  benevolence  boards ;  we  urge  that  the  minimum 
asking  of  the  Commission  of  Finance  be  raised  in  full,  and  that  a 
ivorking  goal  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  annually  he  fixed, 
and  that  the  ultimate  goal  be,  "As  much  for  others  as  for  ourselves." 
In  order  to  accomplish  our  task  and  reach  our  portion  of  the  race 
for  Christ,  it  is  necessary  that  our  men  of  money  make  large  and 
liberal  gifts  for  the  endowment  of  our  educational  institutions  and 
the  promotion  and  equipment  of  our  zvork  at  home  and  abroad. 

8. 

We  believe  that  an  educational  campaign  must  be  planned  which 
will  carry  this  message  of  advance  into  every  local  church  in  the 
denomination,  and  we  recommend  to  the  favorable  consideration  of 
our  pastors,  conference  superintendents,  and  conference  commis- 
sions that  they  plan  to  enlist  our  people  in  a  most  thorough  study 


Our  Men  and  Their  Task  241 

of  our  various  denominational  enterprises  and  to  bear  the  spirit  and 
content  of  this  congress  to  all  the  local  congregations. 

9. 

We  believe  in  the  application  of  the  principles  and  teach- 
ings of  Christ  to  all  social  and  economic  questions. 

As  we  have  reviewed  the  achievements  of  the  past  one  hundred 
years,  as  the  larger  resources  of  Jesus  Christ  have  come  into  view, 
and  as  the  unparalleled  calls  of  all  lands  have  been  heard,  it  is  our 
conviction  that  never  before  did  our  denomination  face  such  a  con- 
junction of  opportunities. 

The  situation  calls  for  all  of  us — Bishops,  general  officers,  con- 
ference superintendents,  pastors  and  laymen — to  claim  by  faith  the 
larger  resources  in  Christ,  to  reconsecrate  our  lives,  our  talents,  our 
possessions  to  our  risen  Lord  for  the  extension  of  his  kingdom  in 
all  the  earth. 

The  end  of  the  congress  is  but  the  beginning  of  the  enterprise. 


